Gabriel+R

[|My Life at GHHS (Animoto Slideshow)]

Let’s see, what was I like when I was a freshman? Words that leap to mind include shrimpy, geeky, pale, naïve, introverted, up-tight, and probably horrendously awkward. I was as unathletic as was humanly possible. I had an itsy-bitsy little social life and only a few good friends to populate it. I’m pretty sure the number one concern in my life, besides my grades, was Super Smash Bros. Melee. I literally cried when my brother accidentally erased my memory card. Yep. Can’t say I miss Freshman year.

Especially Cross Country. My first year of Cross Country sucked beyond description. In our first Conference-wide race, I came in last place. Well, second-to-last, but last place broke his leg or something. In other words, I was the worst male runner in the entire Tri-Seven Conference. Boo-yah. I managed to improve by the end of the year, though.

Then came the summer of 2006. This was the low point of my social apathy – I had so little to do and so few people to do it with that pretty much every day during the summer, I would run, play piano for 4 or 5 hours, and probably spend the rest of my day on Super Smash Bros. Melee. Some days I ran twice. I was not happy with this system, but I figured nobody was reaching out to me because nobody wanted to hang out with me, so I just kept it up. This was when I started to really get into playing music because I realized how much I enjoyed it.

The changes did me good. From all that running and playing piano I had done over the summer, I suddenly was good at two things other than Super Smash Bros. Melee. I went on to do better in Cross Country, and more importantly, I made some more friends and went on to do indoor and outdoor track. I joined a band, Trafalgar, with Stephen Wesner and David Evans, and had lots of fun, learning how to play music as a group in the process.

Junior year was mostly more of the same. But I did get to enjoy going to prom for the first time. I rented a brown tuxedo from the only outlet in Wake County that offered them, and they said I was the only person to order one from them, meaning I was the only person in Wake County to go to prom in a brown tuxedo. It wasn’t a creative choice, though; I just had match my date’s dress. I got my first job during the summer after junior year, playing piano for Peak City Grille and Ocean Grille. Best. Job. Ever.

Senior year is where lots of things changed. I overcame my fear of driving so I could get a parking spot. I stepped outside of my comfort zone by trying out for the Talent Show, and I was surprised at how well that went for me. I ended up being a captain on the Cross Country team that I had despised when I was a Freshman, and couldn’t have been happier about it. The biggest shock of all came when I was named Prom King. I was happy, but mostly I was stunned. All I could think about was what I had been like as a Freshman – geeky, scrawny, awkward – and how somehow in four years that person had become somebody that Green Hope students were proud of. These four years were more of a journey than I ever realized. I’m really going to miss everybody… all of you guys. Until next time, this is Gabriel Reynolds. Adios.