![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
I once knew an incredibly stressed out teenager. He always over-thought every situation and had the incredible ability to transform any small problem into a pernicious puzzle, if only in his mind. Every once in awhile he would go into his room and spend hours trying to process everything that was happening to him and find a way to make sense of the chaos, half of which was of his own creation.
As he went through his four years he found more and more activities to get involved in and therefore more to think about. The programs he joined inherently took more of his time than he ever would have thought, but he still found a way to give them more, until he would struggle to find a single night away from all of the pressures and work involved with everything. He quickly became the busiest member of his small family, and hardly even had time for them.
Whenever I took the time I barely had to examine this kid, I never could quite figure out how I felt about him. On the one hand I saw his glaring faults and how his complication of even the most trivial matters not only affected him, but the others around him. But on the other hand I knew he was trying not only to get involved with everything going on around him, but to find the truth and purpose in everything he did.
My heart went out to the kid. He tried to be good, and even more so he tried to find out what good was. His greatest fear was that he would not understand his own life. But it was from this fear that he taught me one of the greatest lessons I will ever learn…
I think the climax of high school comes when we realize it is not an independent and controlled segment of our lives, separated from all of the years we know will actually be important by the barriers of freshman and senior year. It is all part of a greater plan than we know. And as much as my friend wanted to understand everything in his life, he realized that ultimately we must relinquish our life and understanding to Him who gave us the gift of life and trust that He will lead us to the purpose we seek.
I know that once graduation passes, my relationship with this kid will change. But I hope to see him throughout the rest of my life, finding his true purpose and remembering everything and everyone that brought him there.
