"Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." -Carl Sagan

While I am procrastinating writing my actual speech for graduation, I have been thinking a lot about what it truly means to graduate from high school and transition into college. College. My whole year has literally revolved around this word and this word alone. I'm ready to jump right into it and move to Oberlin! Still, there is a part of me that is still clinging to the familiarity of high school.

As for the Carl Sagan quote above, I think he proves an important point. When we move to college, we are moving into a whole new big world filled with many different types of people from different cities and cultures. Since I come from a senior class of approximately 56 people, most of them feel like they are on top of the world. They don't realize how huge the earth actually is. We are so small, and our lives are so short. Let's face it, no one wants to come to the realization that we are all insignificant. Despite this, I feel like it is important to know and accept this, especially when we are moving on to a new life. We are plunging head-first into the great unknown.

In the midst of all this, life is still beautiful, and the world is a place for endless discovery. We, as humans, may be insignificant, but that doesn't mean our lives have to be. To quote the Dead Poets' Society, "Carpe diem! Seize the day! Make your lives extraordinary!" We can find the most extraordinary things in the most ordinary things. We may not be able to see the whole world in our lifetime, but we can see different perspectives through other people's experiences. We may never see the entire universe, but we can learn about it as much as we can. Instead of looking, we should observe. Instead of hearing, maybe we should listen.

I realize that I will never have another high school graduation. There is only one. Every moment in my life up until now is a fixed point in time - untouchable and unchangeable. All my high school memories are frozen in time. Teenage years are supposed to be the best years of your life, and now they seem forever lost in the past, gone in the blink of an eye.

Overall, good endings always mean that there will be an even greater new beginning. We just have to keep moving forward, and graduation is just a push closer towards making our lives significant to ourselves.

Honestly, moving on is scary.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.