May 13, 2016
Senior
All of the seniors in my school graduated on the fifteenth of May. They had their last day on May sixth. There have been graduation parties and award ceremonies and all of these official recognitions that the seniors are moving on and leaving. Having my older sister graduate has made me realize that there is life beyond high school. As much as it might seem like the day will never come, I will eventually graduate from high school and move on in my life.
From the day we are five years old and get onto a big yellow bus that first time, school becomes the central part of our lives. We cherish the free time we have out of school and count down days until we have to go back. Summer is spent not doing schoolwork and pretending not to think about when school returns, or eventually waiting anxiously for school to return when summer drags on for a little too long. After a while, we think that school just goes on forever. We assume that there really isn’t an end, or if there is, we won’t actually get there.
Moving Up, Year by Year
However, in high school, it becomes startlingly apparent that, yes, there is an end, and it’s closer than we think. Even as a freshman, with four years ahead of us, we realize that we are in the home stretch, chugging toward the finish line at a rapid pace. And then, when we’re graduating freshman year, heading for sophomore year, it hits us that after sophomore, we’ll be juniors. Juniors, which is followed closely by senior. And then we’re done. Easy as that.
The seniors this year are done, just like that. It really hit me one of the first marching band practices when there were no seniors there, and I realized that the people I thought of as “juniors” were the seniors now. High school will be so weird without them there, and it seems even weirder that there will be other freshmen next year. Already my freshman year is over, and I’m heading quickly into sophomore territory.
Growth With Advancement
Last year, around this time, I was in eighth grade, writing about almost being a freshman. I like to think that I’ve changed since then. I’d like to believe that I’ve grown, become more mature, more understanding, and a better person. And I think I have. Hopefully, I’ll continue to change and become the person that I’m meant to be, so that I can leave this chapter of my life completely prepared for the next.
By the time this article comes out, I’ll be taking finals, and only a few days away from freedom and the end of my freshman year. I’m only done with one fourth of my high school career, and I’m determined to jump into the next year remembering that high school doesn’t last forever, and everything that we go through just makes us stronger and prepares us for what comes after. See you next week!
“Reprinted from Hagel Publications, Inc. dba as Courier Newspapers”