In the wise words of LL Cool J “Don’t call it a comeback.”    

During high school, we are bound to have setbacks at some point in our career. Setbacks are never easy but can always be conquered. The main idea we must take away from them are lessons they teach and how you can help someone overcome something similar. Many HHS seniors have experienced setbacks in their high school careers. 

Lamont Jefferies’ (12) story focuses on the relationship between friends. “My toughest moment in life probably is knowing who your real friends are.” He said he came to this conclusion last year.

He figured this out because he started to see who prioritized him and had his back as he had theirs. Jefferies said that his most genuine friendship is actually with his girlfriend, Mariyah Moss. 

“I feel like that’s my closest friendship because we have each other’s backs,” Jefferies said. “I can remember how I felt when people wouldn’t give their full attention or were being ‘dry’.” 

What helped him with this experience was his family and friends, naming his two closest friends Jason Washausen (12) and Jaelyn Williams (12). Lamont learned that everybody isn’t always going to be there forever and that’s okay. 

“I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing. Focus on yourself and make money. Make good grades. Do good in sports and find those friends who are about you.” Jefferies said when asked. 

He doesn’t regret it because it started to prepare him for the real world and how to handle it. “You don’t always need an explanation. You just gotta walk away to find those genuine friends.”

Most people would say they had setbacks in their personal lives rather than their school or work. Milana Bishop (12) would be one of those people.

“I’d say my biggest setback is personal relationships. Varying from a romantic relationship to friendships,” Bishop said. “It’s a mental thing too about how you go about and take things and how they can affect you during your whole day and school period.”  

Bishop said she’s experienced this throughout her high school career. She believes this type of recurrence happens to her because she cares about people more than people care for her. “I let people walk all over me at a point. I thought I needed friends when in reality I just wanted people to talk to.” 

The person who had helped her the most with this would be her boyfriend, Brandon Diggs (12). “He’s taught me so much and has made me grow tremendously with my mind,” Bishop said. “He made me realize that I don’t need to have people in my life because most people who were close to me have only wanted something from me. It was never a genuine friendship.”

At the start of her relationship with Diggs, there was a girl who had tried to get in between them. “She was only my friend because she wanted Brandon. She would go behind my back to talk bad about me to him, not knowing he would tell me. This had gone on for at least 3 months until she found out we were dating causing her to stop being friends with us both.”

She had gotten through that situation with the support from Diggs. She experienced emotions of sadness from the loss of the friendship but, something had clicked for her. Stating that she didn’t need her and there were much better things to worry about instead of the friendship. 

When asked what she learned from it she said that you don’t need friends. “You can go your whole high school year by yourself as long as you get your work done and do what makes you happy like sports and stuff,” Bishop answered. “You can talk to people but, you don’t need to.”

When asked if she was grateful for the experience said it wasn’t that big of a learning moment, but she was glad it happened because it was an eye-opener for her on her view of friendships. 

“Advice I’d give people? You don’t need friends. It’s very hard to tell what they’re there for or what their motives are. 9 times out 10 almost half of them will be fake and will talk behind your back and more just because it’s convenient to them.” Bishop said after her story had ended. 

Relationships are important but so is school work. It is in Shana Luli’s story. 

“My biggest setback was when I didn’t do so well on my AP US History exam,” Luli stated. “It had happened just last year.” 

Why did this happen you ask? Well because Shana didn’t study enough and was incredibly nervous about it. “I felt stressed, anxiety, and frustration. I was stressed about how much work we would have. Being anxious about my grades and the exam.” Luli said. “Frustration came from when I had trouble understanding something.” 

Shana had support from Mrs. Hill, one of the social studies teachers, who helped Luli prepare for it and gave her confidence. 

“My most memorable memory from then was when we had note quizzes in class, and everyone would be frantic trying to get their note together,” Luli said. “I tried my best to get through the class, I did well on my LTS and other class work.” 

Shana said she would handle the situation more seriously and study better. Luli also stated that she was grateful for the experience because it helped make her work ethic better. She experienced grit and determination. Learning how to do school work promptly and decreasing procrastination. 

“To anyone taking an AP course this year, it’s best not to lack and take the class seriously. Do your best and study hard!” 

Setbacks don’t last for long. They shouldn’t consume you but, instead, you consume it and continue to take the world by storm because the setback didn’t, in the words of LL Cool J, “Knock you out.”