The Meme-ing of Life: High School Have-Not-Dones

Melina Diaz

It is almost the end of my junior year, which means I basically have only one more year left in high school! Older family members and friends are always telling me to make the most out of my high school years because it’s the only time in my life where I have the freedom to experiment without certain adult responsibilities. I mean, yeah, I have to think about college, and manage my own time, but I’m old enough to cross the street by myself, and I don’t have to pay taxes. Therefore, this is the perfect time for me to meet a bunch of new people and try as many new opportunities as I can. In the beginning of my freshman year, I made a mental checklist of things I wanted to do in high school.

Check out my high school bucket list!

Although my attitude towards high school has changed since then, I still plan to do everything on my list by the end of senior year. To accomplish this, I joined a couple of volunteering clubs freshman year that I am still a part of, but I want to join the Filipino Club next year to learn more about my culture, since I don’t know much about the Philippines other than the food. I also want to join the Glee Club because I like singing, but I haven’t ever had the chance to sing in a group. I joined Drama Club for a semester my sophomore year (which I wrote all about it in Undercover Understudy), and although I didn’t want to go to junior prom, I plan on going to prom in senior year. I tried out for the glockenspiel (which is basically a metal xylophone) in JROTC’s drum corps at the end of freshman year, but I didn’t get in, which was actually ideal because I didn’t realize how much time they had to practice. (My friends that are in drum corps practice during lunch and after school, so I barely see them! I even heard they sometimes practiced on Saturdays, so I don’t think I would have enough time to devote to that.) Also in freshman year, I was my advisory’s vice president, which is a very minor role in student government and is not to be confused with the class vice president.

Recently, I applied for a general manager position in student government for next year, and I got it! I am so excited to meet new people and have an impact on my school’s events. I am embarrassed to say I have not yet sat through an entire school game for any sport because I didn’t feel it was a priority. Next year, I will definitely make an effort to watch the Bell Game—a football game in the beginning of the year against Washington High School, my school’s rival. In middle school, I played volleyball and basketball almost every year, but in high school, “sports” hasn’t really been a word I associate with. However, this year was an exception. I practiced golf with my friends, and was barely part of the team, but I attended enough for it to count as me playing a sport. Lastly, I took AP World History in my sophomore year and AP U.S. History in junior year, and plan to take AP Calculus, AP Computer Science, and AP Government in senior year. I also am taking Honors American Literature and Honors Spanish 3.

I am proud that I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to cross off activities on my high school bucket list. Hopefully, I will be successful in carrying out the rest of my mission. I also hope that this post will encourage someone else to make and complete their own high school bucket list. I might as well join the bandwagon and tell the kiddos that are still in high school to cherish their high school years; they go by quickly! If you want to read more about my enthralling, educational and extracurricular experiences, I’ll be back in the summer.