On Saturday, May 5, I played laser tag for the first time ever. It’s kind of lame that it took me eighteen years of living to finally do it, but hey, better late than never, right? I’ve been thinking in terms of  “better late than never” a lot lately. The end of the school year is coming up, and again I am confronted with the fact that I have done literally nothing. I’ve still never kissed a boy, kissed a girl, had a real relationship, or gone to a real party. If you had to create a soundtrack to my high school experience, it would be more Dear Evan Hansen than High School Musical. But strangely, I’m not too mad about it anymore, because things always have a way of working out.

   Though my high school experience was not what I dreamed of in elementary and middle school, it’s a whole lot better than what freshman year me predicted. Freshman year, I was merely going through the motions. I felt like I wasn’t really connected to UC High, and the only things keeping me here were weights on my feet. I stayed in extracurriculars not because I liked them, but because I wanted something to put on my college applications.

   But in sophomore year, things changed. I joined a club I genuinely loved (Academic League) and made more friends. Junior year, I joined journalism, and I fell in love with it. Senior year, I’m here.

   I initially thought I was a Theatre kid and a Field Hockey player, but I quit both. I initially didn’t think Academic League or Journalism would be my thing, but now, I don’t know where I would be without my Academic League friends or my Journalism friends.

   Life has a funny way of working out. I can point to a specific point in time, a mere coincidence more than anything, that set me on the path that I am on now. Though the path was long, I have no regrets.

   I was terrible at laser tag, but I was with my friends, and that was all that mattered to me. The strange thing is that none of the people I was with were people that — in middle school or the beginning of freshman year — I thought I’d be hanging out with. Sure, maybe we’d talk in class or say hi in the halls, but I never expected this.

   I wish I could go back in time and tell my freshman year self what I know now. Sure, the girl you like may never know your name or the boy you have a crush on will never see you that way, but you’ll be happy. It may not happen today, and it may not happen tomorrow, but it’ll happen. You’ll outgrow some friends you thought you’d have forever, but you’ll never be alone for long. You are going to find people who you look forward to seeing every day and find new reasons to wake up in the morning. You’re going to change. You’re going to be happy.