I wrote this years ago…
By: Arden Noel
Tags: Life Lessons, High School, Teens, Confidence, Growing Up

I wrote this right after the first semester of my freshman year of high school. It’s definitely interesting to see how I’ve changed as a writer and a person. I think I’m going to write something like this, but for 2020.

What 2018 Taught Me

2018 was the craziest year of my life for me. I had some crazy experiences, including visiting the Grand Canyon, winning cities with my school track team, and starting at a new school. I joined a new community of runners in cross-country who I grew to love just as much as I had loved my old team, and I felt like I belonged for one of the first times in my life.

Middle school for me started out rough. I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a giant cliff the first year. It was a new school, new friends, new teachers, and more classes. It was a lot for 11-year old me. In sixth grade, my best friend and I didn’t even speak to each other for a few months because of a boy in our grade. I felt like she was replacing me with him, and she was slowly slipping away. That Spring, I joined my middle school track team and was able to make new friends. Eventually, my best friend came back to me, and we are closer because of it. Then the year after, I had to work harder in my classes than I had ever worked before. I started a high school math course in seventh grade, and the stress was getting to me. I did track and cross-country again but was surprised with a knee injury at the end of my cross-country season. I had patellofemoral pain syndrome, an over-use injury caused by the erosion of the cartilage in my knee that kept the joint from becoming inflamed. I managed the team during track season and was a captain for the distance team even though I couldn’t run with them. However, I couldn’t even be there the night they won cities, and I cried for hours, realizing there was a part of me that really wanted to be out there running with my girls. I lost a lot of my confidence going into eighth grade, and I had a “friend breakup” happen in about November of 2017. There was a boy I sort of dated, and he still is my best friend today. However, it was just causing me more stress (disclaimer: this is in no way the boy’s fault. I simply was not ready to have a boyfriend, especially when my confidence in myself was so low). Because of all of this, I was able to grow stronger because of it and regained my confidence after reaffirming my friendship with some old friends and going back to school after winter break.

Now that you are caught up, 2018 actually began the second semester of eighth grade. Those first three months were a whirlwind. I was constantly studying, trying to bring my grades up, and getting back into track after my knee injury. The last few months of eighth grade is the first time I can actually remember enjoying school. I had a group of friends to hang out with, and I went to my first school dance in May 2018. It was the black and white dance at my middle school, and I was lucky enough to be with my best friends there. Eighth grade ended on a high note. I gained my confidence back, plus more. I wasn’t afraid anymore.

Summer began, and I…

- went to Chicago with my church’s youth choir

- camped in the Grand Canyon with my mom, dad, and little sister

- swam in the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, Texas

- built a new roof for a woman living in eastern Kentucky with ASP

- attended orientation for my new high school

- went to summer camp (my 4th year) in eastern Tennessee with some friends from church

Over the summer, I also went to biweekly cross-country practices for the team I intended to join after I started school. I got to meet the coach, who I deemed amazing, and get faster and stronger with my track friends and (gulp!) even some seniors. This made a difference for me because I got to start school with an amazing group of girls. Most of them actually were seniors, so they helped me when I was confused, and I got to meet their friends, which definitely gave me some street cred (jk ;D).

I ran cross-country for my high school and even made varsity as a freshman. It was pretty cool. I got my senior buddy, a girl on the cross-country team, and made some new freshmen friends I didn’t really know before. My classes were, and are, hard but I was able to balance them well and made good grades. I loved having girls I thought of as big sisters, who gave me advice and even helped me study. My friend group expanded, and I know they are all people I can trust. I even tried out for my school musical! I didn’t make it, but I don’t care at this point. I proved to myself I had the guts to step WAY out of my comfort zone. I wrapped up 2018 with good grades on my midterms (YAY!!!!), good friends to keep in 2019, and good memories that will last a lifetime.

2018 taught me that in my lowest moments, it is possible to shine, as long as I have courage. It taught me that new experiences are something to be treasured, not feared. Funny friends make everything better, and people you can trust are important for your mental health. It’s okay to share your feelings, and it’s unhealthy to keep them locked inside. It’s also okay to be disappointed, or sad, or angry. I have more in me than I even know, and it’s good to push myself, and have new experiences, even if they are a little scary. These are all important life lessons that I will continue to learn from in 2019. I will keep them through high school, into college, and hopefully throughout my adulthood. I will not forget them, because these lessons took a lot to learn. They cost me failures, imperfections, tears, and late nights. But, in the words of the amazing Kelly Clarkson, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”