Everyone has his or her own well-kept secret, and mine, while insignificant, is my middle name. And despite the occasional bad ultimatum, a stolen driver’s license, and a sibling on campus, no one at Menlo has managed to pry it out of me or figure out what it is.

It isn’t that my middle name is a bad or deathly humiliating facet of me. It’s just been something I’ve kept to myself for no real particular reason other than to keep a secret. And on multiple occasions, I’ve wondered why I pain myself in keeping my wallet always within my reach or suffered through guilt trips just to keep my 1/3 safe from my friends.

Looking at it now though, I realize that my middle name is something of a key point for me, something that has subtly defined the last 3 years of my high school life and something that I want to hold on to forever.

But I know that come June 7, 2013, I will stand in front of my entire class and all my friends at graduation and at that moment, Ms. Lapolla will call up Derrick ______ Ho to accept his diploma.

Having people know my middle name will not kill me, but it represents a sort of final stand in my life in high school. After everything I’ve been through and making so much of an effort to keep it a secret, my middle name will be ousted and the meaningless adventure that I’ve gone through to keep it a secret will end and with it, high school.

It’s hard to think about what that moment and the end of high school will look like to me. College seems nice, but to be honest, it scares me. I’ve established a comfort zone at Menlo and to have that ripped away after 4 years makes me sad. Looking back,

I’ve loved every second of my time here and while people say how much fun college is, I can’t help but want to just stay put. There have been so many people and memories that I’ve created at Menlo and reflecting on all that from the start of freshman year is a little intimidating, knowing that in 8 months, it will all come to an abrupt end.

But I guess I have to take it with a grain of salt. So the moment my middle name is announced at graduaton, I’ll take a bow, accept the situation, and understand that high school and the adventure I’ve gone through to keep my middle name a secret will have come to an end. All my friends who have played the guessing game will be off to different places, but I know the memories of Menlo and all the came with it will remain with me forever.

But it’s only been 2 weeks of school, and until then, you will continue to know me only as Derrick _______ Ho.