Andrea Salazar ’26

This has to be my favorite view.

Seniors, this is it.

If you were lucky enough to have the privilege of attending Rosary since freshman year, you recently received a letter you wrote to yourself during freshman orientation. Now, if you’re anything like me and have the memory of a goldfish, you probably forgot all about it.

As my time here officially comes to a close, I’ve been asked a lot what these past four years truly meant to me. And honestly, I don’t think I can describe it in just one word.

After thoroughly examining my letter, I found a couple of things intriguing. The first was that apparently, I’ve always been really funny. The second was that I had incredibly high hopes for myself going into Rosary. I wrote about wanting friends, good grades, a boyfriend and overall just a fun, “High School Musical”-type experience.

When I was younger, I thought of high school as a checklist — a perfect little box full of accomplishments to cross off before graduation. I always heard family and my parents saying to be sure to do and have specific experiences: “Be sure to go to your senior prom” or “ join this sport” to name a few.

But if I’m being completely honest, that’s not really what I found.

I thought there were certain things I’d accomplish, certain moments I’d definitely have and that by senior year, everything would somehow feel complete.

But that isn’t the case for everyone.

Now bear with me here if you haven’t surfed before; if you have, you should get a better grasp of what I am getting at when I say this. As fun as it is to tell people you surf, you never get the chance to actually catch a wave without first falling over and getting your nose filled with painfully spicy salt water.

As a California kid, I’d argue that almost everyone who grew up in Southern California has had that one moment when they wanted to learn how to surf. In the same way, every little kid dreams about their perfect high school experience. Everyone wants to catch their perfect wave.

Personally, catching that perfect wave took a lot more tries than I expected.

A lot of the time, I couldn’t even make it past the shoreline. I’d get stuck in what surfers call the “crash zone” — the place where every wave breaks right on top of you. You can’t catch a wave until you make it past that line. Even after you do, eventually you have to swim all the way back out again.

And even if you make it past it, there’s no guarantee you’ll magically know how to stand up on the board long enough to catch a wave.

I wish I could say I was a natural at high school and that my crash zone was easy. But honestly, I had a LOT of wipeouts. I swallowed so much salt water that I genuinely thought I was turning into a salt sculpture at some point.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the ocean is my favorite place on earth. To me, it’s beautiful, exciting, and full of surprises. Like how in high school, I’ve been able to make some amazing memories and meet fantastic people.

In the water, I’ve had some of the best memories of my life, but I’ve also experienced moments that were uncomfortable and unexpected — like how at Rosary, growing closer in my faith was an unexpected and, at first, uncomfortable experience.

Surfing can be scary, just like high school can be scary.

Surfing can hurt, just like high school can hurt.

But surfing also changes you. It teaches you resilience. And I’d like to think Rosary has done the same for me — not only helping me grow as a person, but also in strengthening my faith. 

And eventually, after enough tries, getting past the crash zone becomes easier.

The first time I went surfing and made it past the crash zone, I genuinely could not understand why anyone would willingly do this for fun. I thought I was going to drown out there. But after the first time, then the second, and eventually the tenth, it became somewhat manageable.

This, I think, is what high school is really about: learning how to manage your crash zones and still choosing to ride the wave anyway. And this is an interpretation, but also what the crash zone means to you. Is it sports? Faith? Or is it just daily hurdles?

For me, my crash zone was managing my time. Between friends, family, school, and at one point participating in three sports at once, I constantly felt burnt out and stretched thin. For others, I know the crash zone might be pressure, expectations, or trying to create the “perfect” high school experience for yourself. It can even be something as simple as not getting your perfect picture in high school moments.

But no matter what your crash zone or wipeouts looked like, it’s important to endure them in order to ride our wave and have those moments where efforts pay off. 

And now, seniors, somehow, we made it past the shoreline. At this point, more times than you can probably count. But do a small favor for everyone, and no matter how big your crashes might be in college, remember the feeling of actually catching your wave. To the younger Royals, I promise it’s worth it when you catch your wave.