I want to start off this speech with the one quote that keeps me moving forward and has kept me motivated through high school. Michael Jordan once said, “If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” This is what pushed me to where I am today, and what I thought about graduation. Coming into high I thought it was going to be a scary experience. All the classic rumors of older kids throwing you in lockers, and treating the freshman bad was all that went through my head as I approached 9th grade. I was worried about the fact that I was going to do freshman year in my first private school ever. I never wanted to go to a private school because of the whole uniform thing, and thought kids from my old school would make fun of me. I was never really the kid that wore shoes and dressed up a lot, but of course I had no choice because that’s where my parents wanted me to go. They wanted me to get a good education and be surrounded by kids of different ethnicity since college would be the same. They wanted me to be challenged as much as possible. My parents always wanted the best for me and I love them for that. At the beginning 9th grade, I was really shy and afraid because I knew I was going to a new school where I didn't know anyone. Making new friends and meeting new people wasn't really the type of person I was. I was always the kid that would sit by himself, doing their work or eating their lunch alone until someone came over to talk to me. As that year went on I began to make friends and started opening up a little more. I’m always the type to try and fit in with the popular crowd. I hate to always stand out or have people talk about me. When I was in private school I wasn't really worried about that since everyone looked the same with the uniform. It was just all about how you portrayed yourself to others and that’s how they would judge you. I played a lot of sports in middle school and am generally a very athletic person. However, in 9th grade I was too afraid, so I only played lacrosse. I wasn't allowed to play basketball that yea