Segregation is common in today’s society, and from attending different schools, I personally have seen it and know how this can greatly impact students. The importance of eliminating segregation can allow students to collaborate with one another and create memories that they would otherwise miss.

Segregation can cause students, like myself, to feel rejected and anxious, which are unnecessary feelings for a high school experience. When attending Grayslake Central during my freshman year, I noticed the new types of personalities and analyzed the different groups of people that I was meeting. Due to some personal struggles, I moved to Chicago, where I attended two different kinds of schools. 

I began attending ITW David Speer Academy, where I was met with an extremely diverse student population. At first, it was very difficult for me to communicate with students because I felt like an outcast, and I assumed everyone was looking at me as the outcast because my hair was different and so was my personality. Eventually, I got tired of being scared and started joining clubs and putting myself out there. Because I broke out of my shell, I began making friends there. However, something was still missing because I wasn’t open to sharing my sexuality with other students because I had family at the school. This started to greatly impact me, so I decided to attend Foreman College and Career Academy, which was a Chicago Public School.

Although, at this CPS school the academics were horrible, I was able to learn by seeing the diverse population and joining a brotherhood called BAM that teaches teenage boys to grow from their mistakes and create a society where being yourself is encouraged. Everyone communicated with everyone no matter their race, sexuality, or appearance at this school, which lead to me finally to find the courage to come out as gay and become happy with myself. Everyone was so supportive, and I couldn’t have asked for a better support system.

However, due to some family issues and a toxic relationship I decided to put myself in, I fell right back into depression and started to lose focus on my overall goal, which was to walk on the stage at graduation. I eventually dropped out of school at the end of junior year, and I was lost.

I started to think about my future and the skills I obtained from each school, so I decided to work my way back to the top and put in extra work to graduate and re-enroll in GCHS. Coming back was pretty scary because I was presenting to everyone a different Xayvion.

My transition back to GCHS was going pretty well in the fall, but then I started to see the same thing I saw my freshman year, people being separated into their own groups and ignoring those who were not a member of their said group. I started to notice the looks and comments that people would make due to a person’s sexual orientation, minorities, and anything or anyone different than themselves. 

This brought me to where I’m at right now. It is the end of my senior year, and I want to leave here empowering all of you to be open to those around you and to make the environment around you comfortable, not only for yourself, but for everyone. Just because you have a certain belief or were raised a certain way does not mean you have to disagree with others that are different from you. However, embrace differences and learn new perspectives. 

Students spend most of their time in high school at school, so being truly comfortable here is a feeling and culture  that needs to be built by all of us, the students at GCHS. We should value and understand the people around us in order to build an actual community of respect.