As I headed to the library and purchased my seventh I.D, (Legacy, you owe me $35 plus $5 for lanyards.) I looked back at all the trials I had to go through in order to be the man that I am today.

When I first entered high school, I set a few goals to be achieved. I wanted to make a name for myself, and I wanted to have my work published.

But I was a nobody who knew nothing. My second week in high school I was spanked simultaneously by two strangers. This does not bode well for a relatively inexperienced freshman. I was scared.

Surviving my freshman year turned out easier than expected. But it wasn’t necessarily through my own endeavors, but through the seniors that mentally and physically abused me.  I didn’t know the things they did and told me were even possible.

Yet I made it. Then Legacy happened.

I thought I was equipped to handle the rest of my years at Summit. I was wrong.

Legacy gave me the opportunities I needed to achieve my goals. New programs, new faces and for once in my life, everyone was a nobody who knew nothing.

Making a name for myself couldn’t have been easier. The most popular people I knew at Summit were on the improv troupe. This was my first stop at Legacy.

I auditioned with a bunch of strangers (no one spanked me this time) and made the cut.

After a successful first show, I earned my 15 minutes of fame.

Now in order to have my work published, I needed to write. This is where Mr. Mallett and his Newspaper gang came in. There were only a handful of us to begin with. We had no name and no editors. But we had Mallett. And although none of us knew it at the time, he was the best.

Boom went the Rider! And on Oct. 5, 2007, Vol. 1 Issue 1, my story commanded the attention of all who read the center-spread. My work had been published.

My goals were complete, but I still needed to learn the lesson of high school.

I learned how to talk to others in a unique way. Suddenly I was aware of people and their experiences. Observing a person is one thing, but undergoing personal conversations allowed for a better understanding of why people did the things they did.

I finally met all the people I considered strangers. They each had different motives: divorce, death, arrogance, confidence, opportunities, love, hate and other things I would never had realized.

But some people were just scared like me. It’s hard to go up to someone and say, “Hey pal!” when no one has done it to you first.

The greatest thing I ever did in high school was not joining the improv troupe. Nor getting my works published on the Rider and therideronline.com. It wasn’t becoming editor-in-chief or being nominated for Homecoming King. Not even all the awards I won could compare to this.

The greatest thing I ever did in high school was meet one person and help them realize that they weren’t a “nobody”, but in fact had been and always would be a somebody. At least to me.

Thank you for everything my friends.

See ya pals!