High school is a place of stress. Stress for the future, the present, and even from regrets of the past. Sometimes, even the sight or the thought of the school building can fill a person with anxiety and dread at all of the pressures that come from it.
And for this reason, I have become immensely grateful for the places around Liberty that have become important “safe havens” to me throughout my time here.
We all spend about four years at Liberty, and entering my third year here, I’ve noticed that there are places around the school where I find myself releasing a sigh and relaxing. Places where I feel comfortable to just take a moment to breathe. Places where I feel at home.
For some people, it’s the room that they spend hours in throughout the year dedicated to a club. For others, it’s the gymnasiums, courts, or fields where they devote their time to their sport. It could be the PAC or the art rooms for the creative minds at Liberty. It could be the portables for those who devote their time to ROTC.
For me it’s the J-Lab with past journalism staffs’ paraphernalia strewn across the walls and shelves, and the computer with my name stickered onto it complete with a picture of my favorite fictional character.
It’s Mrs. Larsen’s portable, where I go every Monday for FANDOMs club and have a chance to just kick back and geek out with some really cool Liberty Patriots.
It’s the small courtyard between the library and the cafeteria that gives me a chance to breathe fresh air, and feel sunshine or rain on my skin and get out of the stuffy classrooms.
It’s the PAC where I’ve spent every fourth period since freshmen year developing my skills as a cellist, my role as a leader, and my place as a member of Chamber Strings.
It’s the places around Liberty that are places of familiarity to me that I feel immensely grateful for this year… the places that have helped me become who I am.
It’s these places around Liberty that remind me this is not just a place to stress out, or to get my diploma, or to understand where my future is headed, but this is also a place that I can call a home.