High school is meant to be a time for change and transition. Looking back on his past four years, senior Matthew Whittemore would say it was just that.

“Freshman year I was a very quiet and antisocial kid and this continued all the way through the first semester of junior year,” Whittemore said. “I slowly became more and more social and kind of started to crawl out of my shell.”

In the second semester of his junior year, he became more involved in his church, Action Church, and made friends who helped him become less shy and more confident in himself.

Being introverted, Whittemore never saw himself doing anything remotely out of his comfort zone, including going to prom.

“Changing my mind this year, made me so happy,” Whittemore said. “At prom I think my friends got to see a completely new side to me where I decided to just let go, have fun, and not care what anyonearound thought of me.”

Now, Whittemore leaves high school behind feeling confident and looks for more experiences to push his limits.

“Senior year is going to be what you make it out to be and it can be either amazing and memorable or boring,” Whittemore said.