“However dark the night, however dim our hopes, the light will always follow darkness.” -Louis Zamperini

I walk in the hallways every day and see people I know smiling and laughing with friends, but to sit down with them face to face is another story. The beginning of a school year is always the hardest, we adjust to the old and miss the new, and we dwell on all of the upcoming challenges. Listening to my friends about their anxiety, stress, and willingness to give up has made it hard to stay positive; I am at a point in my life when I should be ecstatic to be a senior, to be celebrating one of the best times in my life, but I have learned that not all things last.

  Louis Zamperini was a war hero, and an olympic champion. His challenges are known by many and has inspired thousands. His stories have become known by many are encouraging to others to to look down on your life, there are always others who have it worse than you.

  I learned early on in life from my parents that there are highs and lows at every point in life, and although I’ve developed a way to overcome my lows, the highs never seem to last long enough.

  Seeing my friends struggle though issues that I can’t fix are always hard to watch, weather it be failing grades, parent issues, or wanting to give up on their favorite activity, I can only watch from a distance and hope that the light follows them too, as it does and has for me in many situations.

  There are always going to be struggles that we face in life, so if your in a fetal position crying alone, or if your wanting to harm yourself, or feel like your not smart enough to face the day, then push through, and when you come out on the other side, you’ll see the progress you made and how much you’ve grown from it. Even the ones you see smiling in the hallway and laughing with friends may be wearing a mask as, in their back of their minds, the darkness has crept in and they don’t feel the light just yet.

  Like Zamperini said, the light will always follow the darkness. So find the light in your own dark world, find the good in any dark spot and then spread the light.