By Kyle Melnick

Through my seventeen years of life, many times I have questioned how a person’s character is defined. Many people presume and judge high school students off of their grades, community service, and honors they have been given. But a lot of times one’s true character is defined as what they are not recognized for, and what they had to pursue and work for themselves.

One thing that many people must learn to deal with when in high school is true adversity. Life may take you down an expected path, and obstacles will come in the way, altering the “dream” plan. What I have learned in these last four years is one’s character is defined by how you react to the obstacles in your own life. How you are able to handle school and extracellular activities, while dealing with problems that other people may not be familiar with. Just because you get straight A’s or earn a scholarship doesn’t make you the “ideal” teenager. It’s about the process and challenges that one has to face to earn that success that defines your true character.

So if you ever are in a position in your life where you don’t want to try any longer, and feel diminished, push through it harder. That’s the “ideal” teenager in my mind, the person who stays persistent in their goals in life, even when obstacles come in the way and alter the path to success.

I have learned these lessons from my experiences in high school. I will miss lacing up my spikes before a race. I will miss stepping up to the starting line and looking at my boys, and knowing we’re about to go hard. I will miss the experiences I’ve had on The Warrior staff, as I discovered my passion of writing about sports when I joined the staff my junior year. I have defined my own character through the experiences and memories that I have from high school, and as I go own to pursue my goals, I will always remember and apply the lessons that I have learned from these last four years.