Each of us will have the opportunity to be in the presence of many educators, administrators, office secretaries and many other staff members that schools employ throughout our lifetimes by law and by choice through college and beyond. While some of those figures of authority we may absolutely adore or may hate with a passion we must all take time to appreciate the impact they had on our lives because I can honestly say that we would not be where we are without them and that is breathtaking.

Having to burden an administrator, Mrs. Cooley, during her time off, with sending a transcript to the school I had finally committed to, I decided to share a few kind words that had been on my heart. I simply said that I appreciated her kindness and warmth throughout those past four, hectic years whenever I needed anything or merely standing in the hallways, greeting me, along with hundreds of other students, by their first names.

I was shocked by her response to hear that those words had made her day and that emails such as mine are what educators wait a lifetime to hear. I recently graduated high school without looking back and without fully coming to realize the extent of administrators and school staff across the board do on a daily basis for me and my fellow classmates.

I hated the 30-minute drive to my high school. I despised being "caught" by the infamous vice principal, Mr. Ansley, for walking onto campus tardy. I loathed walking into the attendance office to plead and beg for the secretary, Ms. Allen, to excuse my absences. I abhorred the other students who attended my school because of the way they spoke, the way they dressed, and the way they conducted themselves.

Thus, from day one, I had officially decided that first, I did not and would not ever fit into this school and because of this conclusion, I would, second, spend the least amount of within school grounds possible.

I did not realize the tremendous amounts of work that my school had done for me, along with the rest of the seniors, from day one of freshman year to the last official day for seniors to reach this exciting, and noteworthy, point of graduation. I did not consider the emotional burden of having 1,500 students depend on our principal, Mr. Cook, as if he were our second, maybe, third parent whether it be for school related things or during times of personal need.

I did not appreciate the personal connections I had regardless of my decision to maintain the least amount of contact with people in a school with over one hundred faculty and staff members. I especially did not value the several talks throughout the four years of the importance of how you dress or the importance of deadlines. I did not treasure the times in which all those staff members wanted the best for me.

So, to each high school graduate -- remember all the times when your Mr. Ansley, Mrs. Cooley, Ms. Allen, and Mr. Cook of your school aided you through what could be the most brutal four years of your life. As I look back, I regret not saying more thank you's to those who truly cared about me. For those administrators pushed me to be a better version of myself through the way I dressed and the way I learned to hold importance to deadlines and punctuality.

Even though each high school may have their own major flaw and each high schooler may have a completely different experience, that's the beauty of high school. Those four stressful, gruesome, invigorating, beautiful, nocturnal, humbling years would not be possible without those educators, administrators, and office staff members showing you the path to improvement.