Dear Carroll friends,

We are coming to an end of our high school journey. It has been an interesting time filled with lots of memories. I came into this school afraid of how it would turn out. I didn’t think I would make friends as easily as I did but with the number of different groups, it was easy for me to find one to fit into. I definitely wasn’t the most popular nor did I want to be. I’m glad to have only a few friends because I know I have strong bonds with them and that matters more to me than the number of people I can call my friends. I was able to become more comfortable and to be more true to myself and didn’t try to hide my personality.

Freshman year definitely was filled with a lot of good and bad moments but it was a year that I highly enjoyed. Obviously sophomore and junior years were not what anyone expected. When COVID hit and we had to go online. It made it hard to stay in touch with everyone. It was upsetting to know I couldn’t see everyone because of differing schedules and that a number of school events, like junior year homecoming and junior prom, were canceled and I couldn’t have the chance to experience it. Carroll still tried to make the years as enjoyable as possible considering the situation we were put into. I am lucky to say I was able to go to a prom junior year because I was someone’s date to the senior prom and I got to spend my senior friends’ last school dance with them. Even though I went to that prom basically right after I learned how to walk again after another one of my knee surgeries I danced like it was never a problem and enjoyed myself way more than I could have imagined. 

Senior year came faster than I thought it would and it ended even faster. I’m glad to say I made memories that I will never forget, including my art class. I can’t explain how much that class has helped me. My classmates made me feel like I could be myself and not hide any part of my personality. The experiences of that class will never be forgotten. We have had discussions on the most random topics that would become quite heated at times. I love and appreciate everyone I met in that class and I hope to always stay in touch with them all.

Love, Maddie