(See the video below)

What is up Snow Canyon, I’m Austin Renstrom and I’m your student body president this year. This is seriously a dream come true and ever since the day I walked into this building I dreamt of being in this exact position talking to all of you today.

I have a story for you guys and I promise that if you listen closely and apply this to your high school days this could change the entire outcome of your high school experience. So there was once a six-year-old boy and it was his mom’s birthday and all she wanted to do was go on a sunset hike with her family. The family got Jimmy Johns and walked over to the beautiful Snow Canyon mountains to have a picnic with the sunset. It was a short-mile walk that any person with two legs could handle. There was a nice breeze to calm the Semptember heat down and create the perfect sunset opporitty. The only problem was that their absolute mental youngest child decided hiking was not for him. He decided to hold on to the car seats and fight and scream, refusing to do what seemed for him an excruciating trek. Long story short, they got the six-year-old to that sunset but threats were made, gallons of tears were shed, and teeth were put into skin, all by that absolutely wack six-year-old who was too stubborn to do anything besides watch TV. Although that child’s parents may not have forced that child to hike again, he greatly hurt his parents and everyone around him by deciding to be too stubborn to do anything outside of his comfort zone.

Even though it may come as a huge surprise to some, that six-year-old was me, and this story really happened. I really did ruin my moms birthday at a beautiful snow canyon hike. However, luckily after a few years I had a complete change in mindset that completely changed my mindset and how I look at hiking. 

So when I was fifteen years old my family decided to go to Hawaii. Like any other fifteen-year-old, I was hyped to go have a blast on the beach and chill. Unfortunately, my parents are completely different than everyone else. You guys all remember how intense my mom Mrs. Renstrom was in the PE gym in middle school. It’s just like that in all aspects of her life. So my parents told me that we were going to go backpacking in Hawaii. We backpacked for three days and did an insane 24 miles. I got eaten up by bugs, sweated about three gallons of water, and ate some of the worst food imaginable. Even though this sounds like complete misery, something crazy happened to me on that backpacking trip. I learned to look at how amazing the views were and how much fun I could have with my family if I just embraced it.I wasn’t just surviving- I was thriving. Now if you’re wondering if I ever got to go to the beach on that trip the truth is I did, for about 20 minutes and then my parents got bored so we left.

Now this summer I had the opportunity to go on a trip of a lifetime to Europe. We did one of the most difficult trails in the world, hiking 125 miles and climbing a grulling 35,000 feet of elevation in the small frame of 9 days. It was the best of times and some of the most difficult times of my life. Every morning we would have to walk up 3,000 feet of elevation with a 30 pound backpack on. Although it was extremely difficult I learned to smile through it all and realize that the difficulty of it was all worth it for the reward, the beautiful view at the top. Even though the reward was exhilarating, I found that the joy was in the climb itself and not just the top of the view. It was insane to me that just by switching my point of view I was able to go from me throwing a huge tantrum to me hiking 125 miles and loving every second of it. 

What I learned is almost exactly like high school. The truth is, is that over 95% of the people in our school will graduate highschool. You will all make it to the end of that journey or in my story the hike just like I did in Hawaii, Europe, and the mile hike when I was six. Just like me having very different experiences on every hike everyone’s journey will be very different. Some will thrive and make it far and others won’t. What will make the difference is how you look at things. During this hike we call highschool instead of geting bitten by bugs and sweating gallons of sweat you will experience some extremely difficult things. You’ll have to spend late nights studying classes that make no sense. You’ll get broken up with by your boyfriend or girlfriend. You’ll absolutely flunk a test you thought you’d get an A on. All of these things are pretty much inevitable. The difference is how you handle these setbacks. Some will be like me when I was six and give up and cry throught it all and make it miserable for everyone around them and get carried through it. Others will get through the tough times and learn to love it and make some of the happiest memories one can make. 

Every single year I’ve been at the highschool I see something amazing happen. The senior class the last six months suddenly realize that they have very limited time left in high school. They decided to embrace all the hardships of high school and spend all their time looking at the positives of high school and not the negatives. In other words, they learn to love the climb of getting to the end of high school. They show up to almost every event and the whole grade becomes best friends. Seniors I see this already happening to us and I’m excited for it to get even better. For all the other grades why not do that now. Everyone is going through the same climb and learning to be around others and see the positive makes it so worth it. The memories I’ve seen made out of people who decide to love highschool are insane.

Which leads me right into our theme this year scforlife. Sctildie has been an instagram hashtag for a few years now and I’ve always loved what it meant. Although it definitely complements everyone’s instagram posts it’s more than just a hashtag. The saying scforlife means that we are appart of Snow Canyon’s legacy and we’ll never forget the memories we make it highschool even til the day we depart from this journey we call life. It’s a reminder that high school is a very short three years of our lives but some the most meaningful and where we can leave a legacy on others.

Although everyone is different, I can almost guarantee that if you enjoy the process, the day to day grind of school, waking up every morning, and get involved with the school, it will be the difference from these next few years in front of you being some of the most impactful and best years of your life or some of the most dark and lonely days of your life. For all the dudes out there, dabbing up you guys and saying hi always brightens my day in ways no other can. For all the girls, although I may never have the courage to say this in front of you, I think every single one of you is beautiful in your own special way and I love the light you all bring to this school. I want to do everything in my power to make this the best year of everyone’s life. However, the truth is the choice is yours. The real question is, are you going to be the kid that loses absolutely all his cool when he has to do a short mile assignment or will you be the person that thrives through the riggures miles of school and loves every minute of it, good or bad. Sctildie I love you guys. Thank you.

– Austin Renstrom, Student Body President 2024-2025