Andy Bernard of The Office once said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you actually leave them.” I feel this quote summarizes my high school experience perfectly.

High school has had highs and lows, good times and bad times, but it helped me become who I am and allowed me to develop friendships I hope to keep for the rest of my life.

Freshman year was terrifying. I was fortunate enough to come into North with an established friend group, but I still felt out of place to a certain extent. I was a short, chubby kid who wasn’t good at sports and didn’t care what my grades looked like. It was too scary to venture out and find new friend groups, so it led me to do some stupid things and make tons of mistakes.

It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I really found my place at North when I joined Younglife.

Younglife transformed me as a Christian. The reason I started attending Younglife is because it was a punishment from my parents. It was either go listen to “the cult” or lose my friends for a month.

I went with a friend who had badgered me for weeks to go. During the first club I attended all of the leaders welcomed me with open arms and gave me a feeling of acceptance I hadn’t had at North. I started routinely going and even went on their summer trip where I met my guy, Jared Seeland. Jared helped lead me to God, and he is the guy I go to whenever I face a crisis, and he’s easily one of my best friends.
I continue to follow Jesus, and I was even baptized in September of this year. Younglife and Jesus changed my outlook on life.

I even started to set goals to lose weight. At my heaviest I weighed 220 pounds in the middle of junior year. By spring I had lost 40 pounds, and I continue to this day to chase goals in the gym and in my personal health. My only regret is not starting Younglife sooner.

Joining freshman year could have helped me avoid some of the mistakes I made. If I had a time machine and could go talk to my freshman self, I would tell him to take more risks like Younglife or other clubs. I am forever grateful for my introduction to Christianity and hope to continue following my own faith and help others follow Jesus.

When I graduate, I will start my first two years of college at JJC to finish my gen. ed. From there I hope to transfer to either Grand Canyon University or University of Montana to study sports management or wildlife biology. All in all, I’m most proud of my faith as it continues to help me navigate the world, and it is transforming me into the man I am today.