Where do I begin? Throughout the past three years, we have all seen ourselves change from the person who we used to be. Change can be good and bad and we’ve all gone through both in middle school.

Our journey started in 6th grade where we had so many basic questions like: Is middle school hard?, How much homework do we get?, How do you open a locker? And we finally found the answer to all these basic questions by graduation. I thought middle school would be another boring three years with a lot of homework and no leisure time but I was wrong. I distinctly remember the picnic that we had at the quad and we were playing football and I got knocked to the ground. 6th grade went by fast and to be honest it wasn’t that bad. I mean, I made new friends, tried out different electives, and even got straight A’s.

Transitioning to 7th grade, wasn’t tough but classes sure got difficult and we got some new teachers. Socially, I got a lot closer to many new people and got even closer to my friends. 7th grade went by pretty slowly but finally, it ended and now this next year would be our last year at Portola.

Entering 8th grade, I felt comfortable, relaxed, and excited to finish up my middle school journey. Now we were the role-models and leaders for the younger students. I made even more friends and got closer to many 6th and 7th graders who are going to continue the Portola legacy. It started out normal but tests and assignments got tougher. Even though this was our last year, we still had to make the best out of it and finish it strong. The second semester started out a little differently and many crazy events happened from the beginning to right now. Friends helped friends, teachers helped students and this is the main reason why Portola HGM is such a tight-knit community.

Personally, basketball helped my personality grow because of its competitiveness and team-building skills. I learned many new skills and techniques from the sport and I have used it to improve my lifestyle and my attitude towards school. It also taught me to not give up and to finish the journey you’ve started. And now this is the occasion we’ve all been waiting for, graduation. Our journey is still not finished, but this 3-year episode is done.

We have changed a lot since 6th grade and we’ve learned many new things throughout these three years.  A famous philosopher once said “Life can always change, but you just have to adjust” - Aubrey “Drake” Graham.