Attending Stony Brook University

Having never been truly certain of a destined path, I believed that entering high school would narrow down my two greatest passions, writing and engineering, into one cohesive future. Although the events of a pandemic and district-wide ransomware attack would not appear to be the best indicators of a future of lifelong passion, I never would have discovered what I really wanted in life any other way.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be an engineer. I didn’t know what kind, but I desired to enter that field. When I started middle school, my focus shifted more to writing, and has been the true end goal of my high school and college career. Having started to write a series of books that began in 4th grade and continued up until now, my personal passion project is what I hope to someday turn into a reality of successful best-selling content. The reason I believe in the success of my stories is because I am never too quick to jump onto a single plot thread or continuity. I apply the same skills to writing a newspaper article. Much like life, I never know where a story will lead me, and its ultimate end is far greater than I ever could have imagined. 

I used to believe that I had the wildest imagination any teenager could have. While I still believe this to be the case, I must admit that my imagination could never prepare me for the ultimate tester of fate and determiner of destiny… life. I have never been dissatisfied with my life, a fact that I wish more people would recognize. Despite the hardships and sorrows one may face, they are almost always overshadowed by our triumphs, victories, successes, and pleasant experiences. I value my mistakes and sorrowful moments because they made me who I am, and I would never want to change that.

Being on The Courant for three years has provided me with opportunities I’d never imagined. I definitely have grown as a writer, and I am pleased to have applied my friendly demeanor and outgoing personality to achieve a much larger goal. I wish to continue doing so in the future as I have made friends and created wonderful memories that never would have occurred without the right people being there for me. 

Speaking of the right people being there, I must thank all of my friends and teachers who have influenced me over the course of my high school career and have helped me select a future career in a field that I am more than passionate about. I must thank Mr. Shea. I would not have decided to become a mechanical engineer if it wasn’t for him. I’ve been in his classes for all four years of high school, and I would not trade that time for anything. I do not find it to be a coincidence that the last class I will ever have in high school is an engineering class taught by Mr. Shea. His stories and advice have allowed me to grow in a way that I never could have imagined, and I am forever grateful to have had him as the most influential teacher I have ever had, a statement I do not make lightly. Lastly, I must also thank Mrs. Semple, the adviser of The Courant. She is extremely kind, generous, and funny, having never failed to add a little flair to literary analysis or game-planning for the future. Having had her for an English teacher in my freshman year, I’m forever grateful to have been able to experience the rest of high school in her club, as well as my final year.

I would like to end this senior farewell with some advice for the future and current students. As I said previously, I never know where a story is going to take me, which is why I always have an open mind. It took me some time to realize that the advice I’m giving right now is precisely what I was learning during the four years of formative growth and reflection I experienced in high school. When the pandemic began, I started to reflect upon my life and made decisions on how I would act to create the future I wanted. Looking back four years later, I am now reflecting on my reflection and realizing that, although I believed I had an open mind then, I had no idea what an open mind truly was. Saying you have an open mind is, in essence, limiting the extent to which your brain can grow. It is a known fact that your brain cannot predict the change you will undergo as you age, and learning this first hand has not only humbled me, but has made me enjoy every aspect of my journey throughout high school, and hopefully the rest of my life, a little bit more. This is James Fein saying farewell one final time! ◼️