Why I Chose Bingham

A little less than a year ago, I was faced with a decision. My family had just moved into a new house, and I honestly and genuinely enjoyed the experience of moving to a different place (granted, we had moved less than five miles, but it was a change). Unfortunately, this move had taken me away from where I was going to school, at West Jordan High. Not far enough to force an immediate switch, but far enough to consider moving to the much closer enigma that was Bingham High School at the start of the next school year. I was in a tough position. I loved West Jordan. I loved seeing all my friends each day and I was intensely attached to the familiarity that I felt there. But West Jordan was more than twice as far away as Bingham, and I needed to make a choice.

Should I stay at WJ for the rest of my high school career, or should I take a chance by switching to Bingham and dive headfirst into something brand new, hoping for the best?

I am not ashamed to admit that for a period of several months I was extremely conflicted and indecisive about this. I struggled to come to a solution. I weighed the pros and cons of each school in my head over and over and over, and neither one seemed definitively better than the other.

I was stuck. And I was lost. And I didn't know how to choose.

I don't know exactly how to explain the difficulty of the decision, but it was probably the hardest one I've ever had to make. And I know that one day I'll look back and realize how small that decision was, but it's shaped my life so far in a way that no other decision that I've ever made has.

In the midst of this period of confusion where I was agonizing over a solid conclusion that never seemed to come, I was given the opportunity through my church to go on a camp with a bunch of other kids from the neighborhood where I lived. I was still undecided, but I set off nonetheless, hoping that this camp would answer my question. I was excited to go, but I never realized how my answer would come.

On the camp, I had a blast. We got to go up and stay in some cabins in the mountains, which was a way good time. There was archery, horseback riding, some other activities (we spent a lot of time at the lake by the cabins, which was awesome). I had a lot of fun, but ultimately the fun activities weren't what helped me with my decision. As we were sitting around the campfire one night, I looked around, and I realized that I loved those kids. I didn't know any of them particularly well, but they were all so fun and just sweet kids and I seriously enjoyed being around them. And I don't really understand why it took me so long to come to this conclusion, but this one simple sentence is the reason why I chose Bingham over West Jordan:

THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

Seriously. That's exactly how the thought came to me, and that's exactly why I chose Bingham. I realized that I could stay at West Jordan and keep my life exactly how it had been, associating with the people I had always associated with, or I could make the switch and have the chance to meet many new and amazing people at Bingham. I would have the chance to build a ton of new friendships with some incredibly cool  kids, and I realized that I wanted to take that chance. And that night, I understood that maybe, just maybe, I was given that chance because I needed to switch, that there was someone at Bingham that would change my life.

I didn't realize how true that was.

In response to my last blog post (which was definitely too long ago, sorry), one of my really good friends tweeted this:

The idea that Katie spoke of is the most important thing I've learned since switching schools. I've found that all the judgments I had about Bingham and its student population were entirely untrue, and I've found that you shouldn't limit your friendships just to the kids that attend your school. You get so much more when you just open your mind a little bit and realize that there are amazing people out there that you have yet to discover. Why would you not want to be friends with them? Who cares what school they go to?

DO NOT LET YOUR JUDGMENTS OF A SCHOOL DEFINITIVELY DECIDE FOR YOU THAT YOU WON'T INTERACT WITH THE PEOPLE FROM THAT SCHOOL. YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON SO MUCH. I PROMISE. I PROMISE. I PROMISE.

(*blogger passively sighs at his keyboard as he thinks about all the people he knows from different schools and remembers that he used to think that the only cool kids went to WJ*)

(*blogger remembers how dumb he used to be*)

(*blogger stops thinking and keeps writing*)

The thing is, I love West Jordan High School with all of my heart. I enjoyed my time there, even though it was a lot shorter than I expected it to be. I miss my friends every day, and I wish that it was easier to keep in constant contact with them. And over this past school year, I've been really frustrated sometimes. Being the new kid is exciting and exhilarating, but it can get annoying. So I won't pretend that my switch to Bingham has been perfect.

But those little frustrations have been nothing in comparison to all the positive things that have happened to me since I switched.

Honestly, I've loved going to Bingham. I've loved getting to meet tons of new people. I've loved making new friends. I've loved becoming a Miner. And I'm grateful beyond words for the people that I've made friends with. I'm excited to see what the future holds as I get the chance to make more friends and meet more incredible people.

I don't know exactly how to express in words why switching schools has affected me so much, but I feel that as a person I've changed. And I feel that that change has been 100% positive. I've become more outgoing, more social. It's gotten easier for me to introduce myself to others. I've learned to give everyone a chance. I'm not close to perfect by any measure, but I think that who I am now is a much better person than who I was a year ago.

And most importantly: I'm more happy. 

If nothing else, I think that should count for something.