Although many upperclassmen have warned us about this year being the hardest year, none of us seemed too bothered. On second thought, I didn’t seem to bother. It’s almost to the end of the semester, and I’m already having regrets on that advice. I’ve cried multiple times and began to doubt myself about even graduating this school. This game we call school is mashing my mind into mush. Junior year is almost like playing a card game. In my opinion, I think of the game DOS. We’ve all played the game called UNO before; why would DOS be any different. Think of UNO as freshman and sophomore year. We’ve all conquered these years and managed to survive. So why would junior year be so hard? We expect junior year to be easy so we don’t think anything of it. Once you play your first game of DOS, you end up not knowing what you’re doing and eventually end up failing. It’s rare when you get the pattern scheme on your first try. DOS takes practice; it takes you a couple times to get the hang of it. Hence, like junior year. After a couple bad papers, failed tests, and bad letter grades from this semester, you begin to get the hang of things and strategies teachers want. But after that first game of DOS, you know what you are getting yourself into, which makes you even more competitive to win. But I’ll leave you with this, after the first game of DOS, you will never be the same.

Biography: I look up to many idols but no one can top my mother. She’s no professional art major nor does she find any fascination in the art world. She’s a beautiful green thumb who’ll use one single sapling and nurture it into something glorious blossoming and exceeding its potential. She is who inspires me. I wrote “Junior Year” during the end of the year where school was stressful. A way I decided to destress myself was the game Uno. As I played I made connections on what these cards mean in terms of school. This piece reminds me of a stressful past that I’ve been through and it somehow destresses me.”