By Alan Villanueva
If freshman me met senior me, my freshman-self would run away. Shocked, he would stare at me and fear walking up to me and saying a simple hello.
As my four years at Westmont come to an end, I like to look back and reflect on how much I have grown (not physically...ha!) as a person. Freshman year, I would walk around campus quietly and only talk to my few middle school friends. Things like public speaking, talking to new people, participating in events, and reaching out would frighten me. Entrapped in my own bubble, I would keep to myself because I feared judgement. To escape this state, I decided to apply for ASB my second semester. Little did I know that ASB would change me forever. At first, I only talked to my freshmen colleagues, but after a week in class, I began to comfortably converse with anyone in the class. After completing my first semester in ASB, I applied for the class again because I found so much joy in all the activities I did. The class helped me combat all my fears and made me chase what I originally ran from: becoming a better and open person.
As my years in ASB passed, I grew as a leader and stopped fearing the things that frightened freshman me. In ASB, I created everlasting bonds with many people and got to work with amazing people. Many instances occurred where I had to step outside my comfort zone in order to be successful with my task. ASB turned a scared freshman me into the motivated and passionate senior I am now. Nowadays, I do not care about doing silly things on stage for an activity or dressing up as a turkey to go watch a game. I love to scream out my lungs at rallies and games. I no longer feared getting up in front of a crowd to give a speech. I always tried my best to go to every event we had at our school because I knew I had to make the best of my limited time in high school.
Westmont will always hold a special place in my heart. The entire community helped me grow as a person and taught me not to fear judgment and to always be myself. Admittedly, ASB gave me that push to escape my bubble, but not everyone’s push will be ASB. Everyone should try new things and find what they are truly passionate about. Once you have found your passion, do not be afraid, for your passion will help you grow and become the best version of yourself, just as mine did with me. I became the person who I would have ran away from my freshman year, and I am happy with who I am today.
As I close my chapter at Westmont, I want to thank everyone who I was fortunate enough to cross paths with and to leave anyone who reads this with this quote from Tyler the Creator: “Exactly what you run from, you end up chasing like, you can't avoid, but just chasing it and just like trying. Giving it everything that you can, there's always an obstacle.”