If I could give any advice to someone in high school, it would be to join as many extra-curricular activities as possible. You will never know who you will meet or how they will end up shaping your life.

Four years ago, I walked through the doors on my first day at Regina Dominican, I did not know one person. I walked the halls alone, shocked at the amount of girls who already seemed to know each other, whether it was from grade school, fall sport that they had already been practing with, or the Presentational Speaking class that many took over the summer. I walked into lunch scared and alone, thinking I would have to go eat in the bathroom, just like Cady in Mean Girls. Thankfully, a few girls were nice enough to let me sit with them, but I remember that I did not say one word the whole time.

First semester flew by and I still had not made any friends. During lunch, I was the weird, emo girl who listened to music while the other girls talked, giggled, and made friendships that, I was sure, would last a lifetime that did not include me. I talked to a few people in the hallways on my way to class or I chatted with the girl I sat by in homeroom (back when it was called homeroom), but I had yet to hang out with anyone outside of school. Everyone knows that hanging out outside of school  is the true test to see if you are just “school friends” or actual friends.

Transferring schools was looking better and better to me. Resurrection High School was only a few blocks away from my house and I knew people who went to school there and they seemed to love it.

Maybe, I thought, Regina just might not be the place for me, and I told myself that was okay. I was willing to start over– I actually wanted to. However, my parents seemed to think Regina was the right choice. So, I was forced into staying until the end of freshmen year.

My parents told me we would see how I liked the school after that. My dad said to me, “Can we not talk about this anymore? You have basketball tryouts tomorrow. Focus on that! Please!”

In my family, sports meant everything. For this reason, making the basketball was extremely important. One of the wonderful things about Regina is that almost everyone makes the sport they they try out for. Every other high school, the competition is fierce and parents end up spending a lot of extra money in hiring a personal coach to help a teen make a high school sport.

The beauty of Regina is that you are given a chance to play a sport, even if you never played the sport before.  You  get an opportunity to play, to get that feeling of being a team player, and to experience a high school sport.

I made the freshmen basketball team, which was the best thing that could have happened to me during high school. Being on the basketball team freshmen year was such a defining moment of my high school experience.

For the first couple days of practice, I was too shy to talk to the other players. At this point, my team-mates probably thought I didn’t know how to. But after a few weeks, I realized I was  saying hi to my team-mates in the hallways or making small talk with them during practices. It doesn’t seem like much, but to me, it was a very big deal.

During one game, I played terribly, and then ran to the locker room and started to cry. A girl on my team came in and consoled me.  We have been best friends ever since. After that day, I actually became friends with numerous girls on the basketball team. Today, they are my best friends, and they have even introduced me to so many more great friends.

These girls not only helped me by being good friends, but they also helped me come out of my shell. If any of you know me now, it’s hard for me to shut up most of the time, and people usually tell me I’m too loud. The girls on my team made me into the person I really am, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Even though I have not played basketball in two years, it does not mean I am not thankful every day that the sport exists. These girls changed my life in so many ways.

As each of us moves on to different colleges next year, I am confident that all of our  inside jokes will still remain funny and that these girls will always continue to make me smile.  Our friendships have been cemented and they will remain with me for a very long time.