When tasked with explaining high school many kids will struggle to put it into words. I mean how can you expect an 18-year-old to put four years of their life into just a few words? Not to mention, our teenage years are when we as humans change the most and learn who we are every day. However, as I learned at Algonquin, there’s always a way. I used one of the things I know the best, sports, to guide this task. So here’s the story of my high school career, but told in terms of sports.

Freshman year was exciting for us all: new kids, new school and a whole new life. You’re a high schooler now, or a rookie, in sports terms. Congrats! However, the work is just starting. Much like a rookie in the MLB, you’ve reached a milestone but now is where you must find your role and prove your worth. You and all your peers are in a new league in which you feel pressure to succeed and only your actions over the next few years will decide that fate.

Your sophomore year is not too different, except that much like a second year NBA player, you’re expected to know your way around the place and to know what’s best for your team or in school, your academics. Life is at a standstill; your career is progressing but it’s too early to tell how good of a player you are destined to be. This leads us to what many consider the biggest test, junior year…

Now a third year player with ambitions of being the next Babe Ruth, this is the year to start showing it. Junior year is a time to think about what’s next and how you might advance your career. Much like Babe Ruth was staring at his batting average, you are staring at your GPA which will determine your future team after high school. 

Senior year! Now you’re a veteran player, a credited individual with the respect of many others. You will now take all this hard work and look to your next destination, much like Lebron did when he left Cleveland for Miami. However, sports, like academics, are not everything and beyond your performance you must remember that your teammates or classmates, coaches or teachers are what make the journey possible.