The Battles I Won to Get to Senior Year
By Thalia, a senior at MHS
One of the biggest eye openers of my life happened on July 11th, 2016—my Enrollment Day at Milton Hershey School. It was so surreal because I didn’t think I would get this far or even make it to an amazing school like MHS.
I’ve been to 14 different schools, lived in a lot of different places, and lived with multiple family members. My life has been rough, but I was able to overcome my situation when I came to MHS.
I’ll always cherish my first footsteps into my student home. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss, my houseparents, welcomed me with open arms and helped me through my struggles.
They allowed me to start over. They allowed me to be part of their family by letting me in and taking caring of me like their own. They gave me memories I’ll never forget.
Since the beginning of my sophomore year, I was able to participate in activities that I wasn’t able to do at home, including traveling to Peru. That was a dream come true for me because I always wanted to travel. Being able to travel internationally as young as I am helped encourage me to pursue my goal of getting into the Peace Corps. It also helped me understand how people live in different countries and opened my eyes even more to helping others.
As my senior year approaches, I’m starting to realize that I am both frightened and excited for it. I’m frightened because I don’t want to mess up my final year as a high school student or have any distractions along the way. But I’m excited to prepare for my college years and start fresh for myself.
I plan to focus more on the positive than the negative. I’m going to get rid of the unnecessary things that interrupt my success in the future. My goal is to be able to control my stress levels so I don’t overwhelm myself. I want to learn how to cope with the people around me and not get caught up in unnecessary drama.
I also want to find myself by speaking up if something is wrong. I want to motivate myself and my peers by letting them know that I will always be there for them. I’m going to keep pushing them through the hard times.
Since day one, I’ve never allowed anyone to interfere with my future. Instead, I looked at the multiple struggles in my life as lessons I needed to overcome to reach my end result.
If you can find the good in things and envision your success, then you will achieve it. To the younger students at MHS, always think of your future and the goals you want to accomplish. Stay motivated and determined to finish strong.
MHS has taught me how to persevere through the many battles I have faced in life. I plan on using this vital lesson to help me excel in anything I plan to do in the future.