“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”-Cesare Pavese

As I sit in the back of a classroom watching one of my coworkers from my internship give a lecture to local high school students about what makes good design, I  am transported back to a time when I was one of them. Eight years ago around this time I was taking my first step into high school. I still remember the first day like it was yesterday. I felt awkward and alone. I had come from a school that was 99.9% black. It was very odd stepping into a Catholic high school with a very small percentage of minority students.

I was beyond nervous. I was never good at making friends. I wasn’t severely anti-social but tended to keep people at a distance. I didn’t hang around the black kids, nor was I popular. Heck, I didn’t fit in, in one particular group at all. Eventually, I had my small group of friends who I could bond with and a larger group of associates who shared similar interest with me like art, history, or poetry. I was in Art club, 5th avenue review (poetry club), Spanish club, Diversity Club, took several honors/AP classes, and played flag football for a year.

I had my good times as well as bad. But it provided me with my best friend, taught me a valuable lesson about social circles, and helped me figure out that art was what I really wanted to do.  Truth be told my first year there I was set on being a doctor. I took a latin class in order to help me in the future. I realized I hated blood and still had a passion for art, so I went with it and ran.

A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of being the photographer for a high school graduation party. It also made me think back to my high school days and reminded me how much of a loner I really was. I never went to massive parties like that. Even when I was invited I never felt comfortable enough to go. When I shifted to college I was determined to do so much more. In the end I made some really good friends. Even now some of them I would feel comfortable calling them up to get together and go out for a drink. That is such a far cry from how I was before.

Until next time,

-M.A.