Thanks to COVID-19, starting high school was a weird experience for me. Middle school ended online. I chose high school electives randomly. I had no idea what path(s) I should take or where I would end up. All I knew going into freshman year was that I was taking gym and foreign language virtually. 

One class I was extremely nervous about going into freshman year was English. In the years before high school, I did not have the best experience with English classes. I never liked to read, and I dreaded writing. I was also nervous about English freshman year because it was online. I got extremely lucky to have Mrs. McGee as a teacher that year. In her class, I started to enjoy reading on my own, and I appreciated writing and expressing my thoughts on a topic. This is why, in my junior year, I decided to take Newspaper (Legacy). 

My first article was about the carpool lane and how it causes traffic, delays, and safety issues. I asked parents who had commented about carpool on Facebook to send me their thoughts, which I used as quotes in my article. This article spread awareness to parents, teachers, and students about how they could make the carpool lane work more safely and smoothly. To this day, that is still my favorite article I have ever written. 

This is my third Legacy class here at Apex. Over three semesters, I have learned so much. I have broadened my writing skills and the topics that I have written about. Before taking Legacy, I would say that my writing skills were just okay but nothing spectacular. After taking these Legacy classes, I now know how to see a topic, research it, and write about the main points and overall theme. 

This August, I will be leaving North Carolina and attending The University of Alabama. My intended major is public relations. I am really excited to be going out of state, in a different time zone, and having a new and fresh start! I am looking forward to what the future has to offer, and I am extremely grateful for the lifelong friends I have made here and the teachers with whom I have connected.