They were not joking when they said high school goes by fast. Just yesterday I was the small fish in a big pond heading into 9th grade with no idea what to expect. Four years later, and this chapter of my life is coming to a close.
I joined The Feather during my Junior year of high school with no clue what to expect. Little did I know my decision to join this class would have a huge impact on my high school career. Now don’t get me wrong, this class is not a walk in the park and requires a lot of effort and commitment, but in the end it always brings us closer together.
The trips we take with The Feather bring us to another level of fun and everyone gets to know each other on a deeper level. I remember the first night in New York Danielle Arndt, ’26, and I were up until 2 a.m. writing the Day one wrap up sleep deprived and finding everything funnier than it actually was.
Junior year was also the start of a new era for me: rock climbing. It only took one trip to my local climbing gym, Metalmark for me to become absolutely hooked. I met one of my closest friends there, Nathan McEntee. We go on climbing trips to Yosemite every month and end up at the gym together every day. I also had the opportunity to introduce Nathan to his now fiancé, alumna Karis Petrie, ’24, through the climbing gym.
Climbing has taught me a lot about myself and my perseverance. You see, climbing is failing over and over again, slowly building strength and endurance with each day. Being part of The Feather also stresses this idea of striving for excellence, which forced me to improve my writing. Personally, I enjoyed sharing my love for adventure but have also been challenged to push beyond that and write on topics I don’t really enjoy and doing so with that same excellence.
It takes a lot of failing to finally send a climbing route you’ve been working on, some even take years to complete. With that in mind, I find myself using it in everyday life, persevering because I know eventually the hard choices and dedication will become rewarding.
It is truly unbelievable how fast time flies as you grow older. Freshman year feels slow, painful and long but as each year goes by, the time starts to slip by faster with my senior year being no different. I feel as if I blinked and my time in high school has come to an end which is bitter sweet. I’ll watch as my closest friends from high school slowly start to drift further and further away, going from seeing them every day to not knowing the next time I will see some of them and for some people this will be the last time I see them. It is a surreal feeling and quite frankly, a scary one.
In August, I start the next chapter of my life, heading up to Oroville, CA to go to Northwest Lineman and for the time being, I will be working at Charles McMurray.
One last thing, don’t care what people think of you. They aren’t going to remember your bad haircut you had freshman year or silly stuff like that. However, they will remember Burrito baseball. You do you, don’t let anyone rain on your parade!
Owen the fatty Signing out 🙂
For more from The Feather visit Senior Reflection: Jamison McMurray or Senior Reflection: Mallory Friesen
