As I enjoy my weekends and past weekends alike, I can't help but notice the joy that others experience in their lives. Of course, everyone goes through a hard time in some way or another, but nothing compares to the promising events of a teenager's life.

The Southwood game last Friday proved to me that all of us can be as one. Through the tons of rain pouring on our warm bodies, we all managed to make it an experience worth the water. Exchange students, popular students and even students who hardly anyone knows were all there. All of us were there to have fun. It made me realize what little time I have left to spend with these people, these people that I have grown up with. The people who I've seen every day for 12 years. I had been looking forward to graduation, but now I'm not so sure if I'm as ready as I would like to be.

Later Friday night, I sang a few tunes at the Fifth Quarter. It was amazing to see my best friend and then the kids who do not even talk to me all in the same room. All of them smiling. All of them having fun. I realized once again that, despite differences in background and friends, we can all come together to have a good time.

The weekend turned out to be further proof of my realizations of everyone uniting for happiness. My best friend and I enjoyed a weekend full of music and emotions on Saturday and Sunday nights. Much like the football game, the people at these shows were very diverse. Everyone was mixed in together. Everyone was there for one purpose and one purpose only. It was the music. It was the experience. It was all about finding a happy place.

The team I witnessed play on the field last Friday and the crowd and band that I witnessed come together at the shows truly became as one. They acted as if small differences did not matter when trying to fulfill what the bigger picture calls for. This is how all of us, as peers and as students, should behave. There isn't enough time to dwell upon the past. Days go by quickly and making the most of it is the big picture.

I am excited to see what the school year may hold. I hope to enjoy everything with my best friends, my peers, my class. I'm taking the goals from the field and the stage and applying them to my life. It's simple.