As of late, the top three questions that I’ve been asked are “How do you feel about starting high school?” “Are you excited for high school?” and “What do you think high school is going to be like?” It seems like what everyone talks about, from the last two months of middle school and all throughout the summer, is high school. High school is so highly anticipated from so many people- 9th graders, parents, older siblings, and just about everyone around us. One thing that I’ve noticed is that everyone seems to have an opinion about high school. Throughout movies, our childhood, books, and from friends, we’ve all been given a certain image of high school. Everyone has already written out what it will look like even before you’ve started. Some people might say it was the best four years of their life, and others will say that it was absolutely horrible. Everyone’s experience is different, and it’s not one universal experience. It's all about what you make of it, from my standpoint. For these next four years, I don’t want this  experience to be one that’s just following the expectations of what high school should be. I want to try new things and create my own valuable memories. I’m looking forward to all the experiences I’m going to receive and the friendships I’ll make, yet I don’t expect everything to be picture perfect. I’m expecting it to be challenging, but helping me grow throughout the years anyway. I’m expecting it to be difficult sometimes, and I know there will be moments when I’ll have to get out of my comfort zone. But more than anything, I want it to be four years that aren’t defined by lofty expectations- but of a hope of continued growth.