By April-Joy McCann

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The first day I walked onto campus was a day I will never forget. With my schedule in hand and an attitude of change, I was excited to have a fresh start. I planned on doing many new things, yet I became trapped in doing the things that were expected of me.

I was expected to take rigorous courses, I was expected to become heavily involved in extracurricular activities, I was expected to do it all. So I did. I took honors courses, I started to get involved in school, but at the end of the day I found myself exhausted. Time quickly passed and though it seemed like I had accomplished much on the outside, I felt like everything I did was meaningless on the inside.

That’s when I realized: everything seemed meaningless because it was. I allowed others’ expectations to taint my high school experience. In that instant I decided that I would no longer enable someone else to write my story, but that I would write my own.

When I began to craft my own sentences, I found much more joy in the things I did. From writing for the school newspaper, to building a magnetically-levitated car, I did what I truly enjoyed.

In the end, I have found that when you write your own story, you are in control of what gets published and what doesn’t. So if you don’t like the scenery, you always have the ability to change it.

As we embark on a new adventure, whether it’s returning to high school or going to college, don’t settle for a boring life story that has been prewritten for you. Compose your own novel where anything is possible.