You sit in-between these four walls, and it is an environment you become comfortable with. You become adjusted to the schedule and you start to feel like DAEP is how you have always gone about things.

Then the day comes when you are supposed to return to school. It starts to get exciting towards the end and all you can think about it going back. Then I took a minute and thought about what I was getting excited for.

When all you want to do is leave, you stop thinking about what you’re leaving and more about what you’re going to. I am leaving an environment shaped to achieve success, and entering one that constantly challenges you. I am leaving the place that I can only transcend to an environment, not designed to, but constantly testing your focus and your willpower.

What I have decided is that DAEP isn’t even a punishment. It’s a reminder, a reminder that you do have the potential to be the smart one and no matter the task you have the ability to be flawless. The idea of sitting here and not speaking all day long is a scary thought.  But the reality is that, aside from a day or two in which you are exhausted and don’t want to work, this place is actually pretty cool.

So I really don’t know if going back will be beneficial for me but what I do know is, it is necessary. Social skills and other extracurricular activities play key roles in development. Leaving won’t be easy and the change is going to be hard. However, I am beyond excited for it.