Coming from a family of Booker T. Washington Tornadoes, I never imagined being a Stingaree. However, the past four years of my life have taught me so much, and I owe it all to Miami Senior High.

Baby Sting

I missed freshman orientation and did not attend the first day of school my freshman year, but I remember feeling intimidated and small. I thought, “How can I survive in this huge school for the next four years of my life?”

My first day was a B day, and Ms. Branch, my intro-tech and law teacher, made quite the impression on me that day when she talked about never giving up and always doing the ethical thing.

I had Journalism 1 for first period my freshman year and remember loving the class instantly, as well as the teacher, Dr. DeNight. I met many important people in journalism, and I can honestly say I do not regret the long hours of writing, stressing with harsh deadlines, and hard work to publish such a beautiful newspaper.

During the second 9-weeks of my freshman year, I joined BETA Honor Society. My best friend’s family, which I’ve always thought of as my second family, had quite the legacy of BETA’s. I was tagged by former-president and friend Allisson Fino, and remember feeling as if it was my first step to becoming a part of something bigger than just myself.

Not so Little Anymore

   I can honestly say my sophomore year was the best year out of all four years at Miami High. I was very involved with BETA and even participated in BETA’s Spider-Man homecoming as a scientist who danced in the choreography’s finale. The experience was incredible, and I remember thinking I wanted to participate in every homecoming after that.

I continued with journalism and learned how to lay-out newspaper pages on InDesign and fix up photos for the newspaper on Photoshop. I wrote many interesting stories including one about the freshman to sophomore transition, personality profiles, and controversial stories like marijuana use and bullying at Miami High.

In 2015, my parents bought their very first house in September, and my nephew Noah was born on October 11^th. I can honestly say he is the biggest blessing, and I don’t know what my life would be like without him.

Finally, an Upperclassman

   My junior year was a busy one. I participated in BETA’s Jurassic Park homecoming parade as a park ranger and danced to Nicki Minaj’s Trini Dem Girls. Since it was my first year actually having a big part in the parade, there was practice every day, 5-6 times a week, from September to November. Besides homecoming, I recall my junior year being filled with many services and socials for BETA.

During the mid-year elections, I became BETA’s recording secretary where my job was to attend every meeting, record how long the meeting lasted, and what was talked about at the meetings.

Of course, the highlight of my junior year was getting my ring and becoming an upperclassman. The ring ceremony was beautiful and being able to put on my ring with my best friend Jennifer Tejada, along with the rest of my class, was an honor.

Top of the Food-Chain

At the end of my junior year, I ran for Class Historian, and ended up earning the position for the 2016-2017 school year. I remember wanting to be a part of Class of 17 because all the officers were friends and I wanted to be more involved my senior year. I can honestly say that becoming an officer was one of the best decisions I made in high school. I’ve gotten to do so much, help so many people, and most importantly, learn many eye-opening lessons.

The best times of my senior year were the long days and nights spent with my fellow officers working, laughing, and having a good time. We always drove our advisor Ms. Rivero crazy, but I’d like to believe that we were a very hard-working and passionate group.

Being in journalism for four years paid off when I finally became what I wanted to be since my freshman year, the editor-in-chief of the Miami High TIMES. I do not regret my decision to run because the hard work, long hours and teamwork make the beautiful newspaper what it is.

During homecoming, I participated for the last time in BETA’s Guitar Hero Series as a Beyoncé dancer, and it was a killer performance, the best homecoming I ever had. With my class officers, our theme was Angry Birds, and even though our banner took forever to make, our banner was creative, colorful, and beautiful.   I also ran for BETA’s treasurer for the 2016-2017 school year, and won.

Senior Week was a time to remember. It was very stressful to plan along with all the officers, but in the end, we pulled through and had a very successful and fun week. From the breakfast, right down to Glow Fest, everything panned out beautifully. In fact, every senior activity had something great to offer: lessons, great times and laughs, and memories to cherish.

What’s Next?

   After a long internal debate whether to go or stay, I finally decided to attend Florida State University in the summer, with an all-expenses paid scholarship from the First-Generation C.A.R.E. program. I applied to FSU during October and got my acceptance letter in December. The emotions that I felt when reading, “CONGRATULATIONS…” were happiness, anxiety, excitement and fear. Florida State has always been my dream school, but the idea of moving away from home was frightening. However, I now realize that moving away to study seems like the best option for me.

Sting at Heart

  This might come off as cliché, but I do bleed blue and gold. Although I wasn’t as involved my first three years of high school compared to my senior year, I can genuinely say I’ve gone from dreading school to looking forward to coming and helping my advisor, planning events, and getting things done. I’ve learned that being productive and busy is way better than being idle and bored.

I’ve learned so much about responsibility, maturity, and hard work. Not only were activities something to look forward to, but the quality of my education at Miami High was great, as well. I do not regret attending Miami High, and I wish the best to the underclassmen and senior officers to come. You guys are going to love it here, and if you love Miami High as much as I do, you won’t want to leave.