Senior Hyacinthe Ingram was forced to move around a lot growing up, ultimately settling in Antioch as a fifth grader.

“Before then we moved around a lot due to financially hard times,” Ingram said. “And then once we got here the place just kind of clicked I guess.”

It was hard for her to adjust at first, though.

“I wasn’t really able to make friends at any of my older schools, and learning a new school was always fun…not,” she said. “It was a bit rough. After a while I would have friends and then I would have to move again and repeat the process.”

High school is filled with cliches and stereotypes. Therefore, many students and their friends fall into groups with the same interests and personalities. Ingram is proud of the friends she has made during her four years in high school.

“I love [my friends] to death,” Ingram said. “I think through these four years I have been able to form and reform the group I have. I think I got the best one possible now.”

What Ingram is most proud of about her friends is that they don’t fit a stereotype or mold.

“They are all caring, funny and kind people,” she said. “Our humor goes well together and we work great as a team. We like the same topics and we can all hold intelligent conversations while knowing when our knowledge is out and we have to stop talking. The way we can read each other is also very good. We know what each of us need at whatever moment.”

High school is not only an environment that produces academic growth in students, but also personal and intellectual growth.

“I have definitely matured a lot,” Ingram said. “I used to be so stupid, and so hung up on things that don’t matter. I was also very moody and emotional as a freshman. I’ve learned to be a lot more chill and to really only react to things that are actually big. I’ve also learned that I am not in fact the smartest, funniest and coolest person there is. My pride is a lot less prominent then it used to be, and I tend to reserve feeling proud of a few things rather than of everything, as I used to be.”

For many students, graduation means reflecting on the past: whether it be things they wish they had done, opportunities they wish they had taken, or things they wish they could take back.

“Honestly, I don’t think that I have any regrets,” Ingram said. “Everything I did or didn’t do has shaped me in some way and that is who I am. I don’t believe in changing who I am, at least right now. Progressive, helpful changes are always welcome of course, but to look at regrets would to be changing an integral thing that makes me, me. It would be sad.”

Ingram’s plan for when she graduates high school is to go to college for a PhD and to later become a college professor.

Her mother has really been an inspiration in her life.

“I’ve always taken inspiration from my mother,” Ingram said. “She is a single parent who has always provided for me. I am also inspired by the people and the situations that try to hold me down. When something affects me and I’m expected to roll over and let it consume me, I refuse to. Instead, I use it as fuel for my next motivational fire.”

While school takes up a majority of time out of the day for students, Ingram still finds time to pursue her hobbies.

“I love bowling, and I like doing other athletic activities like biking, playing basketball and sometimes even playing soccer. Aside from athletics, I enjoy reading a lot and playing video games, especially PlayStation. One of my biggest passions is writing. I love being able to sit down and just write whatever is on my mind, whether that be what I feel or some fictional idea that is rolling around my head.”

Her favorite quote comes from the song “Weightless” by the band All Time Low. “Maybe it’s not my weekend, but it’s gonna be my year.”