Trevor Anderson-All Gas, No Brakes
For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed about graduating from Catholic High. I have always been the kind of person who is excited about the future, but I will never forget how much I have grown over the past four years.
Coming here on my first day of freshman year, I was so excited. I was a tiny, over-confident freshman who was ready to experience all of the hilarious stories that my father and brother had told me about Catholic High. Today, I cringe when I look at the picture my mother took of me on my front porch before I started my journey here. That 14-year-old Trevor had no idea how many late-nights and life lessons he was about to learn over the next four years.
For me, freshman year was not nearly as hard of a transition as I thought it would be. From the start, I was dedicated to my schoolwork and really enjoyed my classes. I had never been in a classroom with all guys before, and I soon realized how much fun school could actually be when I was surrounded by immature and overly-confident freshmen who had no filters whatsoever. The first few weeks of school were my favorite part because this was when my homework assignments and tests consisted of learning the famous alma mater and fight song that I had always heard about but had never memorized.
Looking back, I think my favorite part of my freshman year was making so many new friends. On the first day of school, everyone in my class had one thing in common: we barely knew anybody. We knew the people that we went to middle school with and maybe a few upperclassmen, but other than that, we were all in the same boat. Our first day consisted of hearing our teachers in just about every class say, “Everyone turns to the person on your left and the person on the right and introduce yourself.” At first, this was intimidating, but looking back now, some of those people that I sat next to and had to introduce myself to are some of my best friends. My biggest lesson that I learned from this experience and freshman year as a whole was that sometimes, it is good to be uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable in various social settings, such as in the classroom, at football games, and around new groups of people, made me step out of my comfort zone and find my place at this school.
Sophomore year was another great year for me. To be honest, this year went by the quickest, and it is kind of a blur for me when I think back about it. What I remember the most was suffering through biology. This was the hardest class I had taken up to that point, and while I struggled in it, I managed to make some of my strongest friendships in that class. Pretty much every single person in my class was always confused, so I was not afraid to reach out to unfamiliar faces and ask questions.
Most importantly, sophomore year was the year that I truly became comfortable in my own skin. That year, I decided to branch out and join clubs that my best friends were not in, and this was such a good decision. I finally had accepted that it was alright to have my own interests, and it did not matter what the people around me thought. As long as I was happy, I did not care about the possibility of being judged or failing miserably.
I really do not have all that much to say about sophomore year. However, I could write a whole book about junior year. There are rumors that go all around the school saying that junior year is incredibly hard and is absolutely draining, and I can confirm that these rumors are indeed true. For me, the workload was the hardest part. I understood most of my classes, but I would get home every night and have piles upon piles of homework. On top of all of this homework, it seemed like I always had at least three quizzes to study for each day. If I had to describe junior year in one word, it would be: quizzes.
Finally, my junior year came to a close at the end of May. What seemed like an eternity had actually only been ten months. In these ten months, I lived in constant stress. At the time, I thought it was horrible, but looking back now, I could not imagine my life without all of junior year’s memories. In this time, I truly discovered all of my limits. I found out that I could make it through a school day on four hours of sleep, but I had to take a nap the second I got home. I also learned that I write some of my best essays and papers at midnight, which will serve me well in college. However, the most important lesson that I learned was that I had to experience the bad days to be able to recognize the good ones. I had several days when I wanted to stay home and avoid my one million quizzes, but I powered through. When I was cramming in all of my homework and studying in late on a Thursday night, I would always have a football or basketball game, a pep rally, or a dance that I was looking forward to attending. When these moments eventually came along, I was so happy. Moments like these made junior year bearable for me.
Above: Super Fans. Seniors Jack Nolan and Trevor Anderson at a football game. The two attended almost every game in their senior year.
Now, I am in my final weeks of senior year. This has without a doubt been the best year of my life. At this point, my classmates and I have been through everything together. Our senior year has not been normal by any means, and it has been really difficult to stay positive over the past few weeks. Because of the coronavirus, we are spending our days at home in silence when we should be laughing at dumb stories together in the cafeteria. My classmates and I had never realized how much fun going to school actually was until now. Now, we do not know if we will ever all be together again. Regardless of what happens in regard to school, prom, and graduation, I am so thankful for my high school experience.
Now, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am so excited to see what the next chapter of my life has in store. For me, this whole year has been dedicated to focusing on my future. I could not be more excited to attend the school of my dreams, the University of Mississippi, next year. Catholic High will forever be a home for me, and I am thankful for all of the opportunities and memories it has given to me these past four years. I would not trade my Catholic High experience for anything in the world.
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