As our final days in high school begin to unfold, seniors are filled with anticipation of what’s next to come. While it may not have hit all of us yet, the fear and uncertainty of our future begins to take hold. We have been awaiting this day since kindergarten. When the teachers labeled us as the class of 2024, that number seemed so out of reach to us then. Now we are here, just 13.5 days away from taking our final high school test and our final classes with our closest friends.
On May 13, 2024, we will walk out of GHS one final time as students. No matter what we do, nothing will be easy about our last days at Gretna. What’s crazy to think about is, after graduation day, there is a possibility that I may never see some of these people I’ve known all my life, ever again.
Looking around at the familiarity of GHS it’s hard to believe that in less than a month we will all be moving on with our lives. Some of us will be deciding to stay close to home, and others will go as far as they can. Some of us will go onto college and start families of our own. It won’t be often, but there will be a time when our high school journeys cross our minds again. When we think back to the friends we made, the teachers who helped us, and the building that we made four years worth of memories in.
Senior year has been filled with laughter, tears, and memories. Though the end is near, I can’t help but feel sad, sad to leave my friends, and this place that I have called my second home for so many years now. I have grown up with these people since I was five years old. I return each August to start the next year, but not now. There is no more returning. After May 13, we will not be attending the same school anymore, we won’t be picking our seats to sit by our friend groups, we are leaving now and moving on. Graduation is creeping up faster than any of us have been prepared for, and the question begins to arise: What happens next? Where do I go from here? Will I see my friends again?
The hardest part of graduating isn’t leaving the school, it’s leaving our lives that we are used to and moving to the next step. I won’t have my best friend with me anymore. I will walk into college this August and not get to sit by her in class. Our lives are going to move on, but this time in opposite directions. As the end nears I can’t help but feel like I took my high school years for granted. So yes, we have 13.5 days left until we are out of high school forever, but also we only have 13.5 days left before our entire lives and everything we are used to changes forever.
