For those who don’t know, my name is Kathryn McKenna. I’m a senior this year and as graduation approaches I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my years at Arrowhead. I went to Stone Bank Elementary School, where my graduating class was 40 people, and came to Arrowhead where I was one of 500. Which, originally, was pretty overwhelming. But as graduation approaches, it’s very bittersweet.
When I originally signed up for Journalism I didn’t really know what to expect. My mother was a journalism major in college and I’ve always liked writing so I thought, why not try something new. Now I am proud to say I am a published reporter for The Arrowhead, researching and interviewing new people every day in class. Journalism was one the most interesting classes of my senior year. Trying this class inspired me to reach out of my comfort zone and become a more outgoing person. As a senior it taught me one of the most important lessons I will be taking with me to college – to try everything
As I look back on my time at high school, the one thing I regret is not putting myself out there more and trying more clubs. And the ones I did join, I didn’t participate in as much as I could have. Which is funny because some of my favorite memories are from club activities. Specifically during golf season. I loved going to practice and hanging out with my teammates. Even if we didn’t win every meet and competition was so incredibly fun and memorable. For the National Honors Society, each event was enjoyable and it felt good to know I was helping others. Even the events that didn’t sound fun, like picking up trash around the school, was exciting because of the people I was with. Trying new things is the one thing that I would go back and change.
But there are so many things that I did during school that I will continue to do as I go to college next year. For example, reaching out to new people. Because Arrowhead is such a large school, there are some people that I had never talked to before beginning my senior year. And now these people are some of my closest friends. It was scary to reach out to new people, and honestly could be embarrassing, but in the end it paid off because now, although I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life, I am going to miss my friends so much. We’ve been through a lot together, and especially this year knowing it was the last time we would be in class together, we’ve grown so close and I know I will always be able to rely on them regardless of the distance.
Next August I will be attending the University of Purdue West Lafayette. And trust me, I will be trying as many new experiences as I can. I’ll still be going to all the football games, and volunteering with friends, but will also go out and do new things, regardless of the risk of failure. As I reflect on my time here, I know I will always look back at Arrowhead with fond memories and take all of the lessons I learned with me through the next stages of life. Thank you to all of my teachers and classmates who have helped me become the person I am today. Arrowhead has taught me invaluable lessons that I will never forget.
