As the school year comes to an end, I’m surrounded and bombarded with questions like, “What am I doing after high school?” Do I have any plans for the next four years? What about professional aspirations? One of the most frequently asked questions is, “Is going to Santiago High School all worth it?” A typical response from me is, “No lmao, I should have gone to Centennial, and maybe in another life I was intended to,” but without a doubt, I believe that the experiences I’ve had in my four years at Santiago High School could only have happened there. It’s difficult to imagine going to another school because it appears that I was destined to attend this one.

Santiago teaches you something new every time you visit. Lessons on the types of relationships you want to have with others, the types of personalities you want to have, and even the types of knowledge you want to acquire. Santiago is a place where you can learn French for three years because you thought it was a sexy language to learn. Santiago is a place that offers a one-of-a-kind law club (Mock trial) full of diverse aspiring minds who will make a significant difference in the world. Santiago is a place for teachers who come on Saturday to teach because they want you to succeed regardless of your situation. Santiago is full of teachers who understand when you can’t do an assignment because you’re grieving the loss of three family members at the same time. Santiago is terrible when you have to face discrimination, but it is also full of growth when you acquire the right to advocate for yourself. Santiago is a place of change that causes you to blossom in an environment that is difficult to survive in. Santiago is the place where every single graduate of the class of 2022 discovered how to be themselves in a world that is ready to devour the living. Santiago, like many places, is far from perfect, yet it taught me how to be myself. T showed me how to believe in myself. It taught me how to feel ugly before feeling beautiful with my natural hair. It taught me how to be confident in a quiet setting. It showed me how to be loud when everyone else is cowering. It taught me to love unconditionally since I met some of the greatest people at Santiago High School. The memories and experiences I’ve had here will be with me for the rest of my life, and I’m glad for everything I’ve accomplished in my time here. Santiago assists children in changing, which I believe is the most wonderful thing.

So, when you stroll through the hallways of this institution, remember all the blessings you’ve received. The best friend who has treated you like a sister for the past 6 years of your life.  The feeling you get when  You are not taking an exam when you thought you were. The first and last football game you ever attend and play in. Contemplate the small talk you had with a teacher who genuinely cared about you, and envisions the day when the walls will be nothing more than a memory. So, was going to Santiago High School worth the pain, misery, laughter, delight, long hours of clubs, many hours as a basketball manager, and many tears spent over friendship and man….. I’d have to answer yes, the entire Santiago experience was necessary because, without Santiago, I wouldn’t be myself. If given the chance, I would have blossomed into a different person.

Thank you, Santiago, for giving me the opportunity to become myself. No other place on the planet has ever helped me find out who I want to be. So thank you to all the teachers who sat through my essays and emails, and thank you to all the teachers who saw through my disorganization and inability to manage 1000 things at once. Mrs. Smith, thank you for teaching me French even though it seemed like it didn’t want to be taught to me. Thank you, Mrs. Shield, for enriching my interest in language arts and law. Thank you, Ms. Plabani, for your generosity and for providing a safe atmosphere in Ap lit. Thank you, Mrs. Larson, for being the first teacher who gave me the freedom to be creative and write down what I had to say. Mr. V, thank you for the many hours of Saturday school you put in for me despite my incapacity to understand math. Thank you to Mrs. Sullivan for being one of the kindest admin our school and teaching us that not everyone in power who is white is racist. Mr. Gonzalez, thank you for tolerating me in Ap stat. I know you’re wondering why I didn’t just drop, but I appreciate you never making me feel stupid in your class. Thank you, Mrs. Kight, for providing students with a black area at BSU. With BSU at Santiago, I would never have found myself, my people, or my voice. Thank you Mrs. Tilton for running Mock for the past four years and always leaving me a place to stay so I was never alone. Thank you, Coach Ford, for being the first coach I felt safe and comfortable with, and for assisting me in understanding what it means to be a leader. 

Thank you to everyone in Santiago who helped mold me into the person I am today. Every tear, disagreement, and gossip we’ve shared has only added to the kind of person you’ve helped me become. Leaving is bittersweet, but I am confident that with the lessons I have learned here, I will be able to flourish in the real world. Thank you, Santiago, for being real, for being different, for being a shift that I wasn’t ready for but that I needed.