PIRATE PRESS othspiratepress.com
May 2022
Leaving the Lessons We’ve Leanred
Vol. 8, Issue 5
Senior Allison Shew
I don’t know what high school means for everyone, but I know what it means to me. After eighth grade, I was terrified to go to high school. I was a C student, not very social, and after attending a small school, I wasn’t ready to go to a school so huge. I had a close group of people that I thought would get lost in the crowd, and I was always told how hard high school would be. Freshman and sophomore year, I learned the school pretty well. It wasn’t what I expected, and the classes weren’t too hard. I made new friends, lost new friends and lost old ones. Those two years went by so fast. Junior year is foggy because it was online. I am both grateful and ungrateful for that because it probably would’ve been 10 times harder if it wasn’t, but it left me, and many other students, with no motivation to do schoolwork. I developed a bad procrastination problem, which still hasn’t entirely gone away. It’s senior year now, and as I look back at these four years, I think about how much I wanted to leave the whole time. I thought I hated coming to school, but as I really think about it, I don’t want to leave. Leaving means change, which is scary, and I’ll miss it here. I have friends, and my grades are good. What if leaving causes that to change? Nevertheless, I must. It is how life works, and there will be better opportunities out there. I am not alone in thinking that either. “I feel sad because I will miss my teachers and friends that I have made here. But I also feel proud of the things I have accomplished while at OHS. I am excited for the future, but I will miss the past. Ultimately, my time at OHS was an amazing four years but it is only the beginning of what my future holds,” senior Adilyn Walker said. “I’m excited yet a little unhappy at the same time. I’m excited because I can start finding my career and succeed in it. I’m unhappy because high school is one of the only places I can see my friends. During college you might not be able to see them as much, make jokes with them, or even make fun of each other,” senior Kaylin Middleton said. Sure, some of us want to get out of here as soon as possible, but some of us will miss it dearly. Thank you, OTHS students and staff, for making me who I am today.
The graduation gown for the 2022 school year. Hopefully we’ll see you there.