HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Noelle Ramos

“A huge part of [my high school experience] was affected by COVID. It changed the traditional high school experience, but I think it placed more emphasis senior year. I think that was the only real year of high school that was completely undisturbed, considering freshman year was interrupted, [with] the last half online. Sophomore year was all online, and junior year was a transitional period. This is the year things have finally evened out, and we got to experience the whole entire normality [of] high school.

It’s [memorable] just how broad [this] community is, how there are tons of clubs and activities and courses, and it’s a time where you can really experiment before you’re preparing to go out into the real world essentially, since for most people, this is a precursor to college. Once you’re in college, it gets very real. You’re directly preparing for a career, so this period of time is [when] you can experiment, find yourself, grow as a person, do embarrassing things, learn from them and figure yourself out. I [regret] not using quarantine to the fullest. There are still ways to get involved with the school [and] do things outside of school, so there’s a lot of time that was left for self-development and exploration that wasn’t used to the fullest. Looking back, there are a lot of risks that I could [have] taken that would have made the experience very different. 

I don’t regret any time I’ve put myself out there. I tend to overthink a lot, so there are times where that completely goes away. I know I never regret those moments, and they’re pretty central to growing as a person. I’m planning to do a year at UH, and then possibly transfer to Maryland. I’m thinking of majoring in biology. I’m pretty sure I’m doing healthcare, so my options get a little bit more broad when I’m considering medical school or [pursuing] a PhD and research.

[This is] a school where you can find anyone. You find all sorts of people, so you have to be really intentional about who you surround yourself with. But people are really, really powerful in taking you in different directions, so I think I found people who have motivated me a lot and have helped me push myself and grow. I’m really, really grateful to them. 

I want to be able to provide a support system to people. I want to be someone who people know they can talk to and can help them realize things about themselves that they didn’t necessarily think about before. Take all your risks here, because the risks here are small compared to [the ones in the] rest of your life. I’d say this is one of the best chances to experiment and figure out who you are while the consequences are not as bad. Find your people and know your worth. Don’t settle for things that aren’t ideal for you.”