The end of the school year has a very distinct feeling. Classes aren’t consisting of much, but we still have to be at school in order to graduate. But for us seniors, the end of the year has a more emotional effect than it has before. We’re facing a lot of lasts, and the end can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective.
In an article I wrote called “The Last First Day of School,” I stated, “Soon enough we’re going to be attending our last football game and homecoming week.” Looking back, it’s weird to see how small those lasts were. With about eleven school days left, I’m more worried about the last day of school, my last finals, and my last time seeing a lot of kids I’ve known since middle school. It’s sad to see a year full of so many last times and seeing people I love, but it’s exciting now to anticipate what’s coming. In the article previously mentioned, I compared the feeling to be thrown off a cliff. I wrote, “It’s scary, but high school is only temporary and that’s hard to remember when you’re here for so long.” But now, as I am almost graduated, it’s not so much scary as it is liberating. I’m genuinely excited for my future and especially excited to start my college classes this summer. In this year I have grown out of this building, which is something I never dreamed possible as a freshman. I crave being out in the world, gaining my own experiences, and being academically challenged in college.
At the beginning of the year, all I wanted was for this “end of an era” to be something I was ready for. I wanted to be comfortable with leaving, and I wanted to be uncomfortable with staying. But as of today, I am very happy to say I feel prepared to graduate from JHS, and although I am nervous, I am ready to walk across that stage to my diploma and my future.