To my high school,

More than half of you probably don't even know who I am, but I know who you are. You are the ambitious and hopeful bunch that are itching to get out of those brick walls - just waiting to take on the world and the world, waiting for you. You are the hardworking and understanding teaching and administrative staff, constantly trying to figure out how to reach your students, wanting nothing more than to touch their minds and their lives before they are out of your reach forever.

You are the brave two thousand. All of you still walking those halls, I know how badly you want to get out - to get a taste of the real world, outside of required classes and limited lunch hours. But believe me, there are going to be times in the future when you are going to wish you could go back, but you can't. The second you walk out those doors you are going to be nothing but a distant memory to those still behind them. Your time will be up and all you can do is hope that you did the best you could, hope that you left some sort of legacy behind. All you can do is read news article after news article and hope and pray that the heartache stops, and that the hearts heal, and that the ones feeling lost and alone remember their worth. And their purpose. And their ability. And that they are so incredibly loved. And that the thought lingering in their mind, haunting them everyday, is not the answer. And that a hundred miles away, there is a girl typing frantically in her room because all she can do is write a letter and hope that the students who probably don't even know who she is, hear her. Because she still cares so much for her high school and even more so, the people in it. Because she wishes that she did more, but her time is up. She walked across that stage back in 2015, and she looked back not knowing what the future held for her. She looked back hoping that the school that changed her life and touched her heart, would continue to do the same for the students to come. She looked back, and prayed that she had done enough.

To my high school, do enough now. Don't wait until after you have left to make a difference. You are all so incredibly strong and I applaud your perseverance and adversity. In a world cluttered with hate, I know that you all are fighting for love. I know that you wish you could have done something and I know that that is one of the worst feelings in the world. But all you can do is look ahead and work with the now. You only have so much time left there and whether or not that school touched your life the way it touched mine, make it count, you're going to wish you did. My heart goes out to all of you because I know that you have what it takes to make a difference and to rise above this storm.

You are Thunder strong.