Senior, Taliyah Cooper, as a child, posing for graduation. Photo by Taliyah Cooper.
Take me back to 2012…when my biggest concern was watching Dora.
It was 7 a.m. and I was curled up on the couch, a bowl of cereal in my lap–it was almost always
fruit loops.
The living room was dim with soft morning light peeking through the curtains.
I remember being so excited to hear the theme song, the sound echoing throughout the
house.
Time moved slowly, as if the world paused just for those 22 minutes of pure, unfiltered
childhood. All I knew was that everything felt safe, warm, and right. There was no stress, no deadlines, no expectations just me, my cereal, and Dora.
As I transitioned into a “big kid” and entered middle school, I started to notice a change in my peaceful routine.
Instead of watching Dora , I had to complete my homework before I was even allowed
to watch TV. Gone were the days of simple mornings and fruit loops. Suddenly, there were expectations grades, responsibilities, deadlines.
My backpack got heavier, both literally and figuratively. I started caring about grades and who I sat
with at lunch. The peacefulness of my childhood gave way to the awk-ward complexity of growing up,
and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
Middle school was a strange in-between phase. I wasn’t a little kid anymore, but I definitely wasn’t a grown up. I was stuck somewhere in the middle–trying to figure out who I was while balancing middle school expectations and friendships that fell apart every week. The change felt like being tossed into the deep end after years of swimming in a kiddie pool.
As I write this, sitting in Mr.C’s office with my half eaten sandwich from Starbucks and my laptop sitting on the edge of the desk, I look back on how much I’ve changed since then.
Growing from that strange in-between phase to who I am now didn’t come without
its challenges. Like stepping out of my comfort zone to join The Pirates’ Hook, a leap of faith. I
had no idea it would become more than just an extracurricular. It became a safe space, a community of
people who were just as awkward and passionate and curious as I was.
We bonded over headline d e b a t e s , our hatred for InDesign, and the thrill of seeing our names in print. It gave me purpose during the chaos of high school. It reminded me of the way Dora made me feel—like I was on an adventure, learning new things with people
who supported me.
I met the people who would be
best friends for the entirety of myhigh school career, the people who would push me to be great and
encourage me to trust and believe in myself. They shaped me more than any other experience I ever could have had during high school. From our late night debriefs, deep conversations in my car during lunch, to the hour-long advice sessions over FaceTime, my comfort changed from sitting on my couch, watching Dora with a bowl of cereal to sitting in my car with my friends during lunch.
As I embark on this new journey, I look back on all the experiences I had.
Ignoring the stress of scholarship deadlines, applying to colleges, re-reading my college essay, the anxiety of waiting to get into my dream school, which are all worthwhile experiences but rather being thankful for who I changed into as a person.
Though growing up continuously brings more challenges, I am ready to embrace all of it as it
comes with open arms. Through these challenges life has thrown at me, I have been able to test my
limits and push myself to do things I normally wouldn’t, coming out more improved as an individual.
To me, that is what growing up, is all about.
