In writing a self reflection for the entire year of 2016, I decided to go through month by month and highlight key events I experienced to search for a general theme. As you’ll see I’ve found this year to be one of slow, but progressive growth.

Going into 2016 I didn’t set any goals. I felt like creating a goal that would inevitably fall through was pointless. I didn’t really want to do anything. Honestly, I was so brain dead from the first semester of junior year that it kind of took a lot of the life out of me.

In March I had my sweet 16 which my church’s youth leader (aka my second mom) organized for me. It was a beautiful event. I cried a lot. I had both friends from school and church members there. I was happy. In the midst of all the stress I was dealing with, it was nice to reminded that I had such a strong support system.

April was spent prepping for AP Exams and began to really hone in on the college search. In May, I had to take my four AP Exams. It was an extremely stressful month and I was so relieved it was over.

In July I got to go to France. I had dreamed of going to France my entire life. My dad and I had hoped for the day when we would have enough money for us to go. Luckily thanks to C.I.E.E. and Morris School District I was able to go free of cost. You can read more about that experience in one of my previous articles.

In August tennis practice started. This was my first time doing a sport. I made great friends. One of my greatest regrets was not doing a sport earlier in my high school career.

Another major event was the Instagram blow up when I posted a controversial post about the 4th of July. While I always post about racial issues, this triggered a lot of responses. You can read more about that in my article An Open Letter To Everyone With Fast Fingers And Silent Mouths.

September was the beginning of my senior year. Going into senior year I was already so over high school but I had to endure on more first day of the place. The intensity of college applications started to hit me at this point. I was (am) applying to a total of 22 schools so the abundance of supplements I had (have) to complete was insane.

We started up Melanin Minds, an African American Culture Club, to spread awareness about racial issues which has been extremely successful.

In October Mr.Manning (Morristown High School Principal) asked me to give a speech to future Morristown HS students about my experiences at the high school. It was a great experience to be able to reflect on my years at the High School.

2016 has been a bunch of little events and moments with people that have made little changes in the way I think. All of these changes have combined to broaden my perspective on the world and gain a better understanding of who I am.

In 2017 as my four years of high school come to an end, I will actively aspire to be more thankful for all the opportunities I have been given and for the strong foundation my community (at home, at church, and at school) has provided me in order to make me into the woman I am today.