The great Puzzle

We're near the end of our present journey. It's hard to believe our graduation day is nearly hear. I don't feel as if i'm ready. There's been so much turmoil this year that it's hard to believe that it's about to come to an end. Through my time in high school there have been many ups and many downs. When high school first started classes and grades were the last things on my mind, but i'm glad that through the years i have become a much better student. I also used to kinda be a loner, i had Marc and to me that was pretty much all i needed, although it was always great to have Ann along. But when high school started things just didn't fit into place. I guess for me high school has been one enormous puzzle. It started out appearing to be something that i could never finish, there were too many different pieces for them to all work in harmony. But like every puzzle you have to look at the general pictue of the puzzle. Only problem is that i never had the box so i didn't know exactly how it was supposed to go, but i had a general idea. There different parts of the puzzle; Family, Studies, Extra-curriculars, Friends, and the border to my puzzle was god. With out having all of these together the puzzle isn't complete. But trying to manage all at the same time was a feat in itself.

I always like to begin my puzzle from the outside in. So the first developed part of my life and this puzzle was God, he was the foundation from which i would be able to do all that i do. The next part was difficult because i couldn't just work on each part individually i had to do all the parts at the same time. My first couple years i struggled, but it was during these difficult times that i put together the majority of my friens section. My friends were with me through thick and thin, and i tried to be there for them whenever possible. With each new day they added another piece, strengthening our friendships. I also got the foundation for my extra-curriculars, I may not have done very well, but it established a base for all of my later endeavors. My studies portion was having a little bit of troubles developing, i had to force a few pieces into place, which in the end made my studies part look slightly less grand than i intended. My family portion, even though the area it had to cover was spreading, remained strong.

Over my junior and senior years i finally started to get the hang of how to put the pieces together. My extra-curriculars were being put together like magic, ever piece was fitting in place. My family portion also was fitting great, even with the added pieces that had to be adjusted here towards the end. My studies couldn't have gone better, i was doing incredibly well and gaining in the ranks. And my friends, nobody could have predicted how this segment would have turned out. Not only did my friendships strengthened but i gained friends from other towns, i actually became social. And my "long-distance" friends became even closer. The puzzle is now almost complete and the image is nearly finished. Now that i look back i wish that i could have changed a few things, but i realize that would have changed the entire picture. I thank all of you that helped me put together this puzzle, and made it look so much better in the end.

Now with only a few pieces to go i look back and am thankful for every up, but also am thankful for the downs, they made more of an impact on my life than any up could. Lessons learned the hard way are usually the lessons more fully learned. I now feel ready to progress through life. Not beginning a new puzzle, but making the one i have 3D. Making it even more impressive than it is right now, but not losing any of the values i've learned from my studies, extra-curriculars, family, friends, and God.

To all of you i wish the greatest success, hoping that all of you can look at the image that you've helped create and be proud. I hope that you all have learned as much from your own puzzles as i've learned from mine. In the end our images aren't that much different, but each has it's own flair and spice. Thank you for adding your piece to my puzzle.

Reid

(Crap, i didn't intend for it to be this long, sorry.)