Given a chance to return to my freshman year, and change my decisions, I would change nothing. I am not going to say my experiences and decisions were all good, but rather that I have been shaped by every experience and decision, as have, to a lesser extent, those around me, and that I would not change what any of us has become as seniors and young adults.

While I do not regret anything about my freshman year, I would like to give you some advice so you do not create your own regrets. The most important thing I can say about being a freshman is find a dream and live for it. We all have dreams, as a child I wished to be a pilot, just like my dad, and now I would love to be a performing musician. Do not wait for your dreams to come to you – they won’t move. A good dream is lofty and distant, but by your attitude and actions you reel it in. I regret not striving to be a better musician my high school career – I improved, definitely, but it didn’t come first. I didn’t make time to truly become what I wanted to be, which has left me in a definite pickle for the upcoming year.

Also do not stand and watch while wrong things happen. I’m not saying avoid all the things your parents tell you are wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having a few drinks with some friends, or lighting up a cigarette at a rock show, but there will be times when you question your morals or are tempted to take things farther than you feel is right. Make sure you have a definite moral code for yourself, don’t be strict or beat yourself up, but know where your line is.

Probably the most important piece of advice I can give to you may not mean a lot this year, but it will mean a lot sooner than you expect. You need to be good to your families. After your senior year you will probably leave and go off to college or start a job here where you don’t see the people you see at school all the time. You will lose touch with a lot of people and probably never see them again, but you will always have your family. Treat your families right, when you get to be on your own, you really get to realize how much you rely on them.