Thursday, December 29, 2016

The years leading up to senior year, I expected to find leaving high school difficult and sad; although a lot of my friends were really excited about leaving and entering a new world that is college. I felt happy and proud to be finally finishing a milestone of high school and graduating, but I felt sad leaving the familiar area of friends and teachers and my hometown. Fortunately, my college is really close to my hometown, as it happens to be only 45 minutes from my home city, so I can pretty much visit home and my high school (as long as the security guards don't kick my friends and me out) anytime I want.

For the entire duration of senior year, I tried my best to enjoy and make the most of my time left in high school. I found HSM 3 relatable, in how Gabriella and Troy wished they could stop time and just live in the moment, because that’s exactly how I felt about high school almost ending. I thoroughly enjoyed our senior year activities, such as Prom, Disneyland, and Graduation. I hung out with my friends a lot during the second semester when I was more free after finishing college apps and not worrying about grades too much.

On the days leading up to graduation, I felt both sad and excited. I pretty much expected myself to start crying at any moment, and most likely during the actual graduation ceremony. A few days before, I caught a tear when I was listening to “For Good” from Wicked (it is a graduation song, after all). I realized that most of the people, I wouldn't really see again, unless we actually made an effort to meet up. Friends, I'd keep in touch with easily and we could meet up back in our home city whenever we'd return from college during the breaks. But other classmates, this was probably our last time together as the class of 2016 after having grown up together. Teachers, I knew I could visit anytime because they weren’t leaving; they’d still be there when we return.

The morning of graduation, we had a rehearsal to practice walking down the aisle and lining up with the groups and teacher that would announce our names. The moment I got home was when it finally hit me, I think; I started sobbing and crying a lot. High school was almost over and these were one of the last few moments of it that we had together.

Before graduation, my friends and I met up at one of our friends’ house to take photos beforehand. We even took photos in the gym once we reached campus. Finally, it was time to graduate. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry at all throughout graduation. I took photos with my friends and teachers, and told everyone to keep in touch. There were lots of hugs and smiles and everyone was in a good mood, all happy of our huge accomplishment.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that high school doesn’t last forever, but its memories do. As Theodor Geisel, or Dr. Suess, once said, “Don’t cry because it ended. Smile because it happened.” This applies to high school, too. Think of all the great memories we get to carry with us for the rest of our life. And if you’re ever missing your high school specifically and the teachers, you can always visit whenever you return home. Visit with your friends even, to maybe relive the high school experience, although you can't really relive the past because you'll probably change as time goes on, but you can remember the fond memories.

Best of luck,

Anita