ON MY
ROAD HOME
T
hey say high school will be the best four years of your life. I don’t know who “they” are, but “they” were wrong. High school has been the hardest four years of my life. Especially this last one. I never expected my little 14-year-old self to go through the things I have today. I lost friendships. I lost relationships. I lost a part of myself. And I don’t think I will ever gain them back. All I can do is move on, something I have gotten somewhat good at since starting high school. I guess that’s one thing I can thank this experience for. Now, I sit here, itching as my last few days of high school approach me. I’m itching for the freedom of my senior summer, for the freedom of college, for the freedom of meeting new people and having new experiences. Leaving high school isn’t exactly something I’m sad about. In our last choir concert of the year, myself, alongside the 13 other seniors in my ensemble, sang the second verse of The Road Home, a piece our teacher, Mrs. Klotz, picked out three years ago and has used ever since. The song’s lyrics are emotional and touching, and every year, seniors end the spring concert in tears. But not me. At least, that’s what I told myself before we sang it. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was practically sobbing when we finished the piece. These lyrics were what got me: There is no such beauty
As where you belong Rise up, follow me I will lead you home And while I’m going to be leaving my home, at least, the only town I’ve ever known to be my home, I don’t feel sad about it because I’m going to find my new home, full of new people and new opportunities. College is all about starting fresh in my mind, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. But at that choir concert, I wasn’t crying about the fact that high school was over. I was crying about having to leave all the people I’m not going to see when I go to college. I have to go through the experience of starting college all by myself, as my two closest friends aren’t going to be with me, or even starting college at all since they’re juniors. And as much as I’m going to miss them, I’m going to have to keep myself from taking the bus back to my house on the weekends to go and hang out with them. Losing contact with them is one of my biggest fears, but if it happens, it happens for a reason and it’s going to be hard. But, it’s the hard things in life that teach you how to move forward, so maybe that’s why I’ve gotten good at it. In general, I may have not enjoyed high school, but there were always a few things here and there that brought me joy. One of them being the Mix, and the incredible hardworking staff I’ve had the pleasure working with this year. Being in charge of this newspaper has taught me a lot about being a leader. I’ve had to
make a lot of decisions in order to keep everything unbiased and meaningful in everything we do. We’ve taken risks in our writing this year. We’ve pushed boundaries and done investigative journalism, and for that, I am proud of us. This class has been one of my little homes in high school. I hope for everyone who is having a hard time in high school, that they have the ability to find their little homes somewhere. You never know who you might meet or what could change your life for the better. I’m happy to say I found my home in high school, regardless of everything that didn’t go right. I can’t wait to see what homes I find in my next chapter and who will lead me there.
— Maeby Aleo
MAY 2023
15