Dear Kate,
It is crazy to see how far we have come and how in just a few weeks, we will be leading our grade to graduation and talking at the podium. From having every single class together freshman year to ending high school with every single class together senior year, we truly did have a full-circle moment.
From the beginning, when you won second place at Kathy Belton during freshman year research, then won highest honor at junior LISC, I knew you would be an academic threat to me.
Despite our friendly competition, I have had the pleasure of being in many clubs and having almost every class with you throughout high school. Whether it was science research bringing us tremendously closer as friends, to being co-presidents of Key Club, we have truly been through a lot together: sleepless nights to work on our research posters and staying hours after school for Key Club LTC awards. It has truly been a rollercoaster of struggles and stress for both of us together.
I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me for one of our biggest fights of all. Although it is my favorite memory of our friendship–and probably your least favorite for obvious reasons–sorry again for getting you out in senior assassin. “Sal on Val crime” will always be the memory I will go back to in the future when someone mentions my high school achievements. Sorry again for catching you off guard, but I hope you learned your lesson about keeping your goggles on around me. I hope that the times I have lost to you in pool have–and will continue–to make up for me getting you out, even if you still hold a grudge at all our high school reunions.
But apart from grades and achievements, what I do admire about you is your genuine passion in your interests. From the books you read and the shows you watch that you are always talking about in class and during hang outs, I have learned that you are passionate for just about anything that piques your interest.
Likewise, you embody a humble, genuine, and intelligent person, and what I have learned in becoming closer friends with you during senior year is that you are never afraid to speak the truth or to be honest and stand up for yourself. With such extraordinary intelligence and a kind personality, alongside stellar grades and incredible accomplishments, I know that you will discover the future that you deserve. I will forever cherish our memories in research, from you getting recruited to the army at JSHS and you freaking out for not getting your Regeneron shirt, to our Key Club memories and the hope for our legacy of awards to live on.
Kate, you will truly have so many opportunities ahead of you. I am grateful to have had the pleasure of growing up alongside you both academically and socially throughout these four years of high school. It is crazy to think that just around four years ago, we did not know each other, and now you are the person I go to for schoolwork and club questions, and you are now the one I have the honor of sharing top of the class with. From the beginning, I knew that there was no chance in competing with you; you truly amazed everyone with how much you excelled, yet I never let down any competition with you. Whether it be one-upping you on a test or me being happy the one time you said that my senior research poster had a chance at winning the best poster competition, our friendly competition really is what built our friendship.
There is no one else I would rather be second place to than you. Thank you for everything, and I cannot wait to see everything you will accomplish in the future!
Your friend,
Erick
