On Thursday, I was given the tremendous honor of being the Honorable Mention in the category of New Media at the Silver Knight Awards ceremony.  I am proud to be the only student from my school this year, Miami Beach Senior High, to be called up as an Honorable Mention or winner.  When I first started my primary service project, I did not expect to use what I had learned/achieved in anything other than my college applications.  When the opportunity to be a potential Silver Knight nominee arose, I jumped at the offer.  With the help of my parents and two people at my school, I developed a very strong application that I was excited to submit.  The last step of the application process is a personal interview with a panel of three judges.  I love interviews, and I enjoyed discussing my project with the panel, who seemed very enthusiastic about the work that I had done.  Parts of the interview did not seem to flow as well as I had wanted them to, but apparently the judges didn’t feel that way!

When I came to school on Friday, the day after the ceremony, I was prepared to take my final AP exam for my Human Geography class.  What I did not expect was to have a school-wide announcement made about my award moments before my exam started!  I felt fairly confident during the exam, but I still don’t know how to feel about what kind of score I earned.  I should find out the results in July.

I am done.  School is essentially over now that I do not have any exams to study for, projects to complete, or homework to work on.  The last four years of work have truly paid off, no matter how stressful some days have been.  I want to thank everyone who has been influential in my success, because I honestly could never have gone as far as I did without people like my parents who have supported and encouraged me since I first began doing real work back in the first grade with my gifted teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson.  It is an incredible feeling knowing that I am about to go off to college, an entirely different experience, an entirely new four year part of my life.

-Tyler

I have already taken three of the four AP exams that I am signed up for this year, and I must say that they have been surprisingly easy!  Today was the AP American Government exam and I am 95% sure that I passed with at least a score of a four.  For those that do not know, the highest score possible is a five, while a three is still considered “passing.”
This Friday is my last exam, AP Human Geography, which is supposed to be a pretty difficult exam even though the class is beyond easy.  I have done well in the class all year, however it is the one test that I am the most nervous for out of them all.

I think that AP scores come out in July, so I will post about my results here when I find out how I’ve done.

-Tyler

I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing…

The last four years have been great.  Good times, bad times (aka learning times), etc.  But now, I am happier than ever with my current situation.  I almost don’t want to leave, even though I have been excited to go off to college for a long time now.

I’m excited, a bit nervous (not about college itself, but about the major change in environment), and unsure how to feel.

So much has changed for me in the past few years.  When I started high school I had a significantly different group of friends, I had no clue what I wanted out of my future, I was VERY naive about many things (at least now I’m wise enough to recognize that I am still much more naive than I care to admit), I had an entirely different perspective on life, and I had no clue how much everything was about to change for me.  If my life were a poem, the summer between my sophomore and junior years was the volta.  I read an incredible book which opened my eyes to the real world, I met some incredible people who shaped the way that I look and act today, and I became confident and determined.  Sadly, the start of my junior year was bumpy and I quickly fell off the excellent wave that I had been riding from the summer.  Without thinking clearly, I made some mistakes and associated myself with some people that were not right for me, abandoning the few, genuine old friends I had left and ignoring the rest of the world.  These weren’t “bad” people, they were just bad for me.  I spent over a year, pretending like all was well and that I was totally happy.  I was generally happy, life is always good, but I was unhappy with the people around me and the way that they went about living their lives.  I wanted to get out, but I was used to it, and the situation was very convenient.  In the end, all turned out better than I could have ever imagined.  Read on, below.

It is at this point that I will jump forward in time to the present day.  The people who I currently surround myself with are infinitely better than I could have ever imagined.  I truly appreciate how important it is to have friends everywhere you go and in all social groups.  I have also gained a special appreciation of people who are true to themselves and others.  Too many people put up a façade in the hopes that it will make them more enticing without actually having to improve themselves.  I have learned that people who are true to themselves and others do not have a need for such a façade.  I have also learned to only surround myself with these kinds of people; I will always strive to be this kind of person myself.

In conclusion, I am more happy than I have ever been.  High school has been very exciting, and has changed me fundamentally in a number of unexpected and incredible ways.  College is soon, I am excited, and very ready.  This is one of those times when I can’t decide whether I am happy or unhappy that my senior year is ending, so, I will just sign off by saying that life is good, I am very lucky to have the friends and family that I have, and Go Gators.

-Tyler