These past four years
Freshmen Year |
I am Zachariah Genther, the youngest of seven and the last of a legacy going through Laingsburg. These past four years of high school have flown by like crazy, I can't even believe that it's almost over. School has always come easy for me and i've never really had any Difficulties In my academics. This continued throughout my Freshman year as I excelled in all of my classes.
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Sophomore Year |
I felt as though the rest of high school would be a breeze... that is of course up until I first had Mrs. Hebert as a teacher. Her sophomore American Literature class is the first time i've ever struggled in a class. I've always been used to being able to do my minimum in a class and still receive an A. the first few weeks of that class were a truly rude awakening to me and how I treated school. I was finally being challenged for once and I wasn't sure how to react. She was the first teacher to ever truly spark my interest in learning. I would not be here where I am today if I had never had her as a teacher. Under her I learned that not everything would be given to me, all I needed was someone who wouldn't sugar coat everything. My writing skills have improved tremendously thanks to her and although still lacking, they are a million times better.
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Junior Year |
Next comes my Junior year which was more similar to my Freshman year in terms of difficulty. However, this is the year when I took one of my favorite classes in my whole high school career, Veterinary Science with Mrs. Eggleston. I had always had an interest in Animal Science because of my eldest sister( you'll discover why later) and this class was my chance to further explore this. I absolutely loved the class and this made me decide to pursue a Veterinarian as a career.
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Senior Year |
Lastly, all I had left was my senior year, the most challenging of them all. I was both full of fear and excitement over the fact that I was able to take a class with Mrs Hebert. However before the year could even start something occurred the month before that made me forget about all of that. We’ll talk about that later. Besides the fact senior year has been quite the challenge as stupid me decided to take three AP classes this year. As much time as this decision took up, I do not regret it. If anything it's prepared me more for the college life next year. AP Literature has been the most bitter-sweet class i've ever taken. With it being so difficult and Intellectually challenging I spent many nights worried about how well I would do. All of the worrying was for nothing as i've fared well as a student and learned more than I could have ever hoped for.
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"Family is not an important thing. It's everything."- Michael J. Fox
family
Nothing I say can ever come close to explaining how important my family is to me. They are always there for me, through the thick and the thin, no matter the issue. Family accepts you no matter who you are and no matter what you do, they alway have your back.
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My parents have made me who I am today. I am a direct representation of them, more specifically, I am them. Our parents have a never ending amount of love for us, they always put us above themselves. Any sacrifice that is needed to make us happier they are willing to do and they have done. They support us in whatever path we chose to take in life and help us on the way. What else can I say except I wouldn't be here without them!
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My siblings and I are as close as they come. They're pretty much all of the family that I have… Luckily I have six of them! Being the youngest of them all i'm the baby of the family and spoiled rotten. This does mean however, i'm picked on occasionally but most importantly it means I always have someone to protect me. If anyone wants to mess with me they have six of my siblings to deal with. Like i've mentioned before i'm the last of a legacy, all of my siblings have graduated from Laingsburg. So i've pretty much had my path through high school paved for me. This can be both a curse and a blessing. Luckily were known as a very proper and genuinely nice family so I automatically have a great reputation anywhere in which my family has been. The curse however off being the last one is that i've had expectations set for me long ago for how i'll act and how i'll do in high school. Which such intelligent siblings coming before i'm expected to be the same. These expectations have created a ton of stress over the years as I always have it sitting on my shoulders. It is however the stress that pushes me to do my best in order to prove that I am not my siblings… I am my own person and I set my own expectations!
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One of the largest parts of our family are our dogs. Our whole family are dog lovers. Dogs always have a special place in our hearts. They mean everything to us, we wouldn't be able to live without them. We currently have a German Shorthaired pointer/Chocolate lab mix named Miles and a Husky/Yellow lab mix named Lucy at home. This is where the incidence that occurred before the beginning of my senior year comes back. We used to have a Black lab in our family named Apollo who we lost unexpectedly in August. Apollo was My best friend, I didn't and still don't know what to do with him. He was the nicest boy ever and was always by my side. He helped me get through most of school as he would sit right next to me as I was doing my homework, studying, or writing an essay. The link on the bottom is to a visual poem in which I use to show how I feel about the loss of him.
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I am one of the luckiest guys in the world...Why? Well because I have the honor of being able to call one of my best friends, my girlfriend. Eleanor Marshall is the most amazing girl ever and my other half. She is super kind and extremely intelligent. For the past year and a half she has always been there for me to help me through anything. It's very helpful to have someone as smart as her to help me through school( especially AP Calc which she's already taken). I know that no matter what I need she's always there to help. She's taught me that I don't always need to do everything alone and that there is always some who is willing to help, you just have to be brave enough to ask. You're never alone.
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What I take pride in
One of my greatest passions is the sport of golf. I first started learning 6 years ago and first began playing an a team my freshman year of high school. Golf has always been different from any other sport. We've always been more than just a team. We are more like a family. The past four years of golf have been an amazing experience. I may not be the best but I still enjoy it and see myself as an important part of the team. I'm very proud of my accomplishment of being the team’s Captain for my Junior and Senior years. Golf has given me the opportunity to become a leader to my team and it has taught me that effort pays off.
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what I should have done differently
The mistakes I have made in my high school career are a dime a dozen, however i wouldn't change a thing. Of course I have my fair share of regrets but it is because of these mistakes i am where i am today. Now speaking of those regrets.... One of my largest regrets would be my nasty habit of procrastination. I've always had this problem but it worsened as I made my way through school. I used to and still do put off even the biggest of projects to the last minute, staying up to three in the morning the night before to finish them. this of course is where a TON of my stress came from this year. If i had any advice for those below me, its to NEVER procrastinate with your school work. If you follow this simple advice I promise you will be mostly stress-free for your remainder of your schooling career.
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My works this year
I came into my senior year dreading the day that we had to create original works. I've never been a very creative person and felt as though I was going to struggle tremendously with how lacking my writing skills are. However, the exact opposite occurred. I actually enjoyed the poetry unit the most. I've never been able to see myself as a poet. Shortly after starting the unit I discovered my inspiration...Any topic in regards to writers block and procrastination(something that I knew all too well). I actually excelled at creating my own works! If you're reading this and like me you are worried about the dreaded poetry unit, don't be! Go into this class with an open mind and allow you're own experiences to be your inspiration. Below are some of what I consider to be my best achievements throughout my year of AP Literature.
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My Short concluding advice is that, although it my sound a little cliche, high school moves like a whirlwind and you'd better enjoy it while it lasts. Soon you'll be in my position looking back on the years wishing to relive them again.
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