With just over a month left in the school year, my time as a freshman at LHS is coming to a close. With its departure will come the end of the constant heckling, patronizing and adapting that comes with the territory. Something about the word freshman is so frowned upon, that is the reality of being one. 

Being judged by upperclassmen is a constant struggle and making it through this first year of high school was very difficult and could not be done alone. However, my freshman year was such a success and there are so many people who must be thanked for it.

All who I must thank:  

1. My teachers

Here is to my amazing teachers who have been such amazing role models to me: I can not thank you enough. Every one of them has dealt with my late work, my sometimes lousy attitude and my blunt personality. Thank you especially to my accelerated chemistry teacher, James Jarovski who has answered countless questions early in the morning due to my lack of understanding of difficult concepts. Thank you to Xavier Pastrano, my first semester English teacher; the impact you have had on me and so many other students is incredible. You have made so many of us newcomers feel like we truly belong. To Jared Jansen, you have managed to teach the fastest moving class with the most efficiency I have ever seen a teacher have, thank you for not wasting a minute of our time. To Monica Conover, thank you for consistently putting a smile on my face day to day. To Katie Kroeze, thank you for helping me improve my skills as a writer and for helping me sprout my affinity for journalism. To Abby Berke, thank you for all the gossiping sessions and all the times that we spent slacking off in class and still finding ways to push us to do our work. And to Norma Preza, thank you for always dealing with our class’ immaturity every single day. We do not express our gratitude for that enough. And for any other teachers I may be forgetting who impacted me, thank you.

2. All the administrators

To all the administrators who continue to make an amazing effort to kick off all of our high school careers, thank you so much for everything you have done.

3. My brother

To my amazing brother, Caleb Hiatt, a senior at LHS, thank you for the countless hours you have spent taking me to and from school. Thank you for leading me through high school, for showing me the dos and don’ts. You are the ideal older brother, you have passed on so much of the wisdom that you have gained throughout high school onto me, and have led me through this stressful year. I could not have asked for a more perfect person to lead me every step of the way throughout this school year. I mean this all from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything.

4. Statesman staff

To all of my fellow staff members in Statesman, you have all made me feel like I belong. I can not express more of my gratitude to you all. From showing me the editing, writing and publishing process to helping me with my homework in our spare time, I can say that all of you have made an impact on me and I will never forget this class.

Finally, thank you to anyone that I may be forgetting about. There are only so many who can be thanked and appreciated. But most importantly, thank you to LHS and everyone in it for getting me through freshman year.