Dear Wantagh High School

When I first moved to Long Island, I was terrified, I had no idea that you’d be where I was going when I already had a seat in a high school in Jamaica, Queens with a friend I knew and people whose lifestyles and humor I could easily understand and reciprocate. I remember walking into the school and taking one look around and thinking “This is the most white people I’ve seen in my entire life.” – and that proceeded to terrify me even more, I had this preconceived notion that I was going to be alienated, not just for my race, but my difference in financial standing with most students. At first, my notion was correct and I was alienated (mostly because I let myself get that way) but as I began to open up and let people into my life, I learned a different side of Wantagh. I’d let the semblance of external things dictate the way I thought people thought about me internally, when everyone pretty much was the same as me, everything aside. As soon as I let that fear go, I was freely able to talk and connect with other students and teachers, making my experience a much more joyous one. So much so that when I almost switched schools in September of my senior year I couldn’t stand the thought.

Journalism was a key part in making me feel more comfortable with myself, as I was forced to look at other views and discover the unbiased truth as well as express my own truths on certain opinions, and as I leave it behind I thank all the students there with my and the lovely teacher, Mr. Rafferty. If I am to state one regret it would be not embracing the school with open arms sooner and in the future I won’t let myself fade into the background. Thank you Wantagh for having me.

Love, Miles