The girl with a locker next to mine begins to ask about the math homework, and then stops herself.

“Oh wait. You’re a PRISM kid.”

PRISM. Synonymous with over-achievement, arrogance, seclusion, perfectionism, but above all: expectations.

I’m fortunate to have grown up in Bellevue, where successfully testing into the elusive PRISM program (a dual AP and IB honors curriculum) implied boundless opportunities. But by senior year, PRISM’s class of 2015 had dropped from 120 to less than 70 students who had endured the rigorous curriculum, a reflection of the competitive atmosphere and unhealthy obsessions with test scores and résumé building. In that sense, it was both an opportunity and a challenge, a test of how many stressed days and late nights we could push through while still maintaining academic excellence.

Graduating IB a year early means that I have time to explore a career interest this year—the knowledge from my business course has been brought to life in an internship at the University of Washington. PRISM allowed me to explore my creative bounds both within academia and outside in the real world: from analyzing the ethical implications of forced sterilization in my Extended Essay to running a debate camp for less privileged students in the community.

But despite the incredible academic opportunities, the most valuable lessons were also the most intangible. It is unlikely that I will remember my literary analysis of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, but I will remember an exposure to controversial international literature, and the opportunities for explicit discussions of sociopolitical issues like race, government transparency, and ethical decision-making.

More portable than any historical fact or mathematical formula, I will carry forward time management skills and stress coping mechanisms. I will look back on memories of my encounters with failure, and days when hard work could not always reap the rewards that I wanted. I’m sure I’ll relive all of these challenges in the years to come, but more than just a diploma, PRISM has given me a toolbox full of experiences and ambition to successfully jump over those future hurdles.