Granite Bay High School is my school.

  Along with most other schools, the dialogue from students frequently contain phrases like, “I hate my school” or “I can’t wait to leave this place.”

  This might be just a combination of teenagers wanting to have words to say that are filled with angst to “fight the man” and following others saying it.

  I’ll be honest, I am guilty of it also. The general vibe of Granite Bay High hasn’t always been the best, there is obviously general affluence in the area that fuels amounts of entitlement, people that aren’t always genuine – you get where I am going.

  However, flip a few words and you’ll find almost every high school has those similar problems.

  Especially reflecting on the front page of this newspaper, Granite Bay seems like it’s not a great place to be at the moment.

  I’ll go ahead and disagree with the apparent masses and say that I am happy and proud to be a Grizzly.

  We have opportunities here that not many teenagers have. I, for one, have been able to be a part of a national award-winning paper – no, let me put that differently: we have computers and a budget that allows us to create a paper. Not many schools can say that.

  For athletics, we have incredible facilities that are filled with top-notch coaches who have led teams to multiple championships.

  I’ll get away from the whole “we are lucky to be here” kind of thing, because when you grow up in a small community, you don’t really see outside of the bubble.

  One of my favorite experiences of high school was being on a bus for junior prom and the song “Young, Wild and Free” came on over the speakers. Everyone put their arms around each other and sang the song, smiling, having a great time. As everyone was singing, I realized how short and how great high school is, that my friends there were the ones who I am glad I surrounded myself with. The joy of that moment was hard to forget.

  When you repeatedly voice how bad a school is and how everyone at the school is bad, you are just digging yourself deeper into the mindset – and it becomes true.

  You are only going to be here for four years. These are years that you aren’t going to be able to get back.