Your Own Best friend

Good morning Class of 2022, how is everyone? Great? Good. We all know that during life everyone wants to try their hardest. They want to impress the people they care about, make people proud. But during highschool I realized that doesn’t always happen the way you want it to. I’ve gotten honors every semester of my entire school career. Never once failed a class, worked my butt off. But I’ve never been told “We’re proud of you”.

 I remember one time in eighth grade I worked on a project for social studies for 2 weeks straight. Every free second I had was spent on that project. I’m not sure why that project seemed so important to me but, I ended up getting a two on it. It took me like a million tries to fix it, it was the most frustrating thing ever. But not once did I get any recognition for it. Because the 2 weeks of free time used on it wasn’t seen by anyone but me. But I made myself proud. Last summer I worked 50-60 hours a week, busted my a** and not once did any of my boss’s or coworkers say “Good Job” or “We appreciate it”. My point is that no matter how hard you work, the limits you push yourself to, the only person that cares in the end is yourself.

 I’m beyond proud of myself for everything I’ve accomplished in life. But highschool has helped show me that. I have indeed been that person crying at the kitchen table because a math problem is too hard, which I’m sure everyone has at one point or another. But I managed to pass math every year. You’re never going to be congratulated for every little thing you accomplish, but you’ll sure as hell be proud of yourself. After we graduate high school and walk across that stage all we really have is ourselves. We are with ourselves every single day. You are your own best friend, so make that best friend proud. You made a meal correctly? Awesome, you’re pretty much a chef at this point. You learned all the words to a song? Get it Rap God. You graduated college? Might as well be Einstein at this point. Every accomplishment you make, pat yourself on the back for. Be your own supporter, route yourself on from the sidelines. We’ve got this Class of 2022, be your own best friend, make yourself proud.

“graduation caps” by j.o.h.n. walker is licensed under CC BY 2.0.