Being "SJP-sick"

By Marco Rivas

The fact that SJP is almost over makes me a bit sad.

I’m going to really miss everyone. I’ll miss the funny people, the shy people, the smart people, the silly people, everyone.

I think this really speaks to the type of people we all are. Amazingly, in just a week or so, I learned to enjoy everyone’s companionship, to the point where I find myself a little attached to that companionship. I enjoyed making the girls laugh, talking to the boys about “guy stuff,” and having purposeful conversations with the counselors. I enjoyed most of the food, Mexican, South Asian, Korean - yes, I’m excluding those edible heart attacks, which we called hoagies, from my list.

I’m also going to miss the smiles.

Even when everyone seemed exhausted, they would always have a great attitude and a gleaming smile on their faces. Those smiles varied, ranging from cute to dorky to funny, but they were all great. It’s really incredible to see people keep such optimism. We all feel tired and grumpy at times, even having the desire to go crazy early in the morning, but I’m sure that we all are grateful for our counselors for what they have done for us so far, and for what they will continue to do for us in the future.

The future… seems far, but I’m sure it’s not.

Good luck to every SJP student this year. Strive for greatness and success. I don’t necessarily mean taking 40 AP classes and getting a 9.0 GPA, although you should still try to challenge yourself. By striving for greatness and success, I mean doing whatever that makes you happy, because, after all, life is not about being the richest, the most popular, or the smartest, it’s about being happy. So do whatever it is that makes you happy.

Don’t feel that you need to be perfect. Be the greatest you can be, and then some. I hope you all get into great schools, ones that make you happy. I hope you meet many more wonderful people throughout the years. But, I also hope that we all keep in constant contact (although I know that we’re all going to be extremely busy with school, extra-curricular activities, college applications, and dealing with finances concerning college. After all, we’re “academic beasts”; we’re not content with being good, we all want to be great.)

To conclude, I know everyone has been saying that they are homesick, but I, on the other hand, have a feeling that I will be “SJP-sick” when I’m home. I love home, it’s irreplaceable, but SJP has become somewhat of a second home, a second family.