Neil

High School Years
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http://animoto.com/play/nOIVACRFFFhB0REjQx81kw

Script
My High School Years. What was I supposed to expect when I came into Green Hope as a freshman on August 2007? I hardly knew anyone. Most of the kids came from Davis Drive Middle School and already knew each other, but who did I know? I moved to North Carolina in 8th grade, at a time when other students had already established social groups. The few friends that I did make, however, all went to Apex High School, leaving me alone. Thankfully, I met several kids who have remained my good friends throughout these four years at Green Hope: Matthew Guan, James Ding and Danlei Yan. Yeah, James abandoned us and went to NCSSM, but I still talk to him online often. I wish I had more to say about freshman year, but the truth was that not much actually happened. The only thing of interest was the Green Hope Robotics Team. I spent hours every week going to meetings and helping to build a robot. It a lot of work, but very fun and rewarding; we were semifinalists at the Richmond regionals. Sophomore year was pretty eventful – I joined Quiz Bowl during its golden age. We had a lot of great players, and we went to so many different competitions. Aside from competitions, we also had movie nights, parties, and more. Lately however, the club has been a little lackluster, but don’t tell Nikesh I said that. The end of sophomore year brought many changes. My brother graduated from Duke, so he doesn’t come home very often anymore. A lot of kids left for NCSSM, including James. Suddenly, I felt very alone. Actually, it wasn’t just my imagination. Just look at my AP Chemistry class. 12 kids. French? 13. But over the course of the year, I realized something: class size is inversely related to class camaraderie. Yes, that even applies to this class. I’ve enjoyed my time here tremendously, from the skits that we played to the group work that we have done. All of these experiences have made me into the person I am today. I could never have done it without the support of all my friends and teachers. Thank you.