Well, it's that time of year again.
Graduation.
Whether you're ending your high school career and preparing to go to college, or ending your college career and preparing to make your mark in the real world.
The emotions are always there and the future is always somewhat scary.
Yes, I used the right word: scary.
Think about it this way: when you're in a place for four years, you start to get comfortable. Everything around you, from the teachers to the other students, becomes familiar. Each time the year ended, you knew what you were coming back to.
Then, it all of a sudden is the last day of school. It's a turn in the run that you didn't see coming, even though you've been traveling on that road for awhile.
You're a senior and since you're a senior, you won't be coming back to the same place next year.
See, that's what I mean about the future being somewhat scary.
The loss of familiarity.
It's funny because you never really think about the fact that you're going to eventually leave this place. I mean sure, if you've had a bad day at school you might say: "Man I can't wait to graduate."
Then, when it comes to time to get your diploma, everything becomes real.
For me, I did have some regrets here and there. You know, there were things I wish I had done differently. Then I came to the realization that if I could go back, I don't think that I would've really changed anything. Every single thing I had experienced those past four years made me who I was when I walked out of the school for good.
Wow. That was incredibly corny. My deepest apologies for that.
Anyway, speaking as someone who has been through this rite of passage (Ms. high school grad over here!), I can tell you that those scary feelings of the future will eventually be replaced with excitement. It happened to me during the summer of my freshman year of college when I went to orientation and saw that people were moving into their dorms. Another chapter of my life had opened and everything had become real once again.
Something tells me that when this time rolls around again, I'll be reflecting on life. Only next year I'll be entering my junior year and then I'll probably thinking about how old I am. How I'm now old enough to say: "Back in my day, kids would/would be/were..."
OK, maybe I won't be old enough to say something like that, but you know what I mean. To top everything off, my sister will be graduating next year. Now that is something I'm not sure if I am totally prepared for.
