Sweet 16

Last week I turned 16. Sunday, to be specific. looking back, it was a pretty good day. I expected sophomore year to be a really cruddy, painful, grueling experience, but it hasn't shaped out like that. I figured like this:
A. All the juniors who hated me last year are now seniors.
B. All the seniors who liked me last year are now gone, along with many of the great beis medrash guys.
C. There will be lots of annoying freshmen to bother me, but who i won't be able to or have the heart to pick on.
D. My brother will be here, and he will get picked on, and I will have to be constantly defending him.
E. Everything will be much harder and my grades already suck.
F. The "Freshman defense" rules instated last year will no longer apply to me, and no one will recieve suspensions for beating up on me.
G. etc

Well, it didn't happen like that. I got over the old upper-classmen leaving, and got closer to the new ones. I've become friends with many of the freshmen, and my brother is adjusting well to the yeshiva atmosphere and making freinds. I've surprised myself by applying myself much more forcefully to my grades than i thought i could, and it shows on my GPA.

And then halfway through the year, i think, Hey, didn't i think this year was going to be awful? Funny how i forget so soon. I probably would've remembered that dread if my fears had been realized, but when God had mercy on me, I ignored it. I guess i have a lot be thankful for. I have a better family than I could ask for, a yeshiva and classm8s who care about me and whose company i enjoy, good food and personal belongings, and, i feel, a progressive and productive take on life. Everyone one I know and every moment of my life has contributed to who I am today. Thank you all.