Here it is. The end of our days in high school. Who doesn’t remember that first day of school freshman year? Awkwardly standing outside of 5N, wondering what on earth advisory was, and hey, which one were you in, anyway? Or sophomore year, looking down our noses at all those freshman who were invading “our” space? Junior year, when we thought we knew everything and were just so cool because we were more than halfway done? Clearer in our memories, senior year, when we were just freshmen again, because what were we doing in this new building? Well, there’s not going to be another first day of school. Of high school, anyway. And aren’t those supposed to be the best years of our lives? Did the best years of our lives truly just pass us by?
There’s going to be quite a few tears at graduation. Even those who are happy to leave and anxious to move on will doubtless spend a few moments reflecting on the place where we’ve spent the last four years of our lives. People change over time, and perhaps they change most during the ages spent in high school. Not only have we developed as students, as academics, but also as humans. We’ve built and broken friendships, learned how to manage our time and responsibilities, figured out to communicate effectively, as well as all that stuff on the graduate profile that we were supposed to have accomplished by now.
We’ve had a unique experience, here at the school with too long of a name. How many other schools have had those international fairs, cafes, plays, trips, and projects? We’ve suffered through them all, however willingly or unwillingly, and as a result, here we are. Graduation. This is a time for a round of applause, ten or twenty of them as a matter of fact, for all the hard work we’ve put in. We complained and complained, and this is the fruit of our labor.
And really, who is going to be thinking about those essays and worksheets and portfolios on June 25? No one. We’ll be thinking about our friends, those who we will miss and leave behind, and those who we’re taking with us further down the road of life. We’ll be thinking about the teachers whose quirks we’ll miss every day, and classmates who may not be our best friends, but whose presence we enjoy anyway. We’ll be thinking about those funny moments where everyone started laughing for the most ridiculous reasons, for little oddities that brought smiles to our faces, and for the good times in general.
No one remembers the difficulties when all is said and done. What will stay in our minds is the people we met and cherished, and the happy memories we made with them.
