When I entered high school four years ago, I never expected to come across such amazing people. In fact, I expected to hate high school. I didn’t know where I would fit in or where I belonged. For all I knew, I was starting the next four years of hell, but I was wrong.

I met people who were both good and bad, I fell in love and out of love (a story for another time), I joined clubs and teams (some I didn’t continue), but through it all, I did learn a lot.

To My Teachers,

In a few weeks, I will no longer see you every day, but I will always remember what some of you did or didn’t do for me. You have taught me, guided me, challenged me, and put your trust in me. For some of you, I only had you once, but for others, I was grateful enough to have you for three years. Overall, you gave me a parent away from home. You were patient with me and you were understanding, especially this year when I needed to work on yearbook every hour of the day.

Sorry for the sometimes-late work, the occasional naps during class, or the frequent absences from your class (you know who you are). I could only hope my college professors are half as caring as you are. I hope I was able to show you the respect you deserve. Teaching isn’t an easy career path, so I commend you for the hard work you have dedicated to this school and myself. Thank you for teaching me to be my own person, to rely on myself, and to give my everything - if only when necessary.

To My Friends,

There are many of you who fall into the following category, but a few of you deserve a special shout out, because I will miss you the most. To the Illuminati (no, not the secret society, but the group chat we created on Valentine’s Day a few years ago because boys sucked), I love you so much. Our backroom breakdowns will soon have to turn into Skype meltdowns, but don’t worry, you won’t miss out on the weekly episode of “How is Kaylynd’s life falling apart now?”

To Jelly Bean, you’re my best friend – distance will not change that. Thank you for teaching me that I matter, I am important, and to eat three meals a day. Love you lots and forever.

To My Teams and Clubs,

While in high school, I expanded my involvement every year by joining as many clubs as I could. Though I was involved in 10+ clubs or organizations, I dedicated most of my time to three specific ones.

To JROTC, or more importantly the cadre and Battalion Staff, you have helped build me as a person. You have taught me to have honor, integrity, personal courage, and to challenge myself. My leadership abilities have grown from serving as a Company XO and Battalion S-5 and S-6 (depending on who you ask). Thank you for believing in me and motivating me during my time in this program. I will forever be impacted by you.

To my cheer team, four years is a long time, and four years ago I would’ve never imagined we would achieve what we have together. For my previous teammates, though you are creating who you are or want to be in life now, I will forever love you and I’m always down for a night at G-Force, even when our warm-up is no longer a straight-up lib. To my current teammates, thank you for letting me be your captain this year, for pushing not only you, but also myself, and helping me learn who I am. If there is anything about high school I won’t forget, it’s you. From cheer camp to late-night practices leading up to competition to the best edition of “High School Musical” I will ever have the pleasure to take part in – you have helped me learn patience. To my coaches, wow, you both are amazing. I will miss hearing “point your toes” every single day of my life. Thank you for trusting me to lead this team – I hope I did not let you down.

To the yearbook staff, you are awesome (see what I did there). This year has been an adventure, and I’m pretty sure I only cried once. Every single one of you has done amazing things and worked so hard this year. I can’t wait to open the book. As I end my chapter with LV Junebug, I want you guys to know a few things: Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I cannot stress enough how important those are. Life will not be the same without a yerd impromptu Chinese/pizza party, so work a lot and eat more. Everything is awesome when you are apart of a team; & here I go.

In less than 20 days I will say goodbye to this school, but once a Pioneer, always a Pioneer.