The end of the summer came too fast. It's time to start saying those goodbyes to the underclassmen, or an even harder goodbye to your best friend who is going to a different school across the state. The hardest goodbye, for me, is to my high school. As I packed my first box to move ninety minutes away to the school of my dreams, I began to reminisce on the last four years. There are so many things to say about my school, but I think one word to describe it would be memorable. Days when I was tired and did not feel like I could function at 8 a.m., or days where I stayed up too late the night before at rehearsal, doing homework, or studying for a test, the words, "I can't wait for summer," came out of my mouth every year way too often. Looking back on those days, I would do absolutely anything to have them back.
There was truly no better feeling to me than it being the Mt. Carmel festival, signaling the end of summer and fall quickly approaching. Fall meant sweaters, boots, pumpkin spice lattes, and my favorite event: Friday night football games. Some Friday's during my senior year, I would just stand there and take it all in. I would think about how I would never live this moment again in my life. Yes I could go back and watch The Bears play on any given Friday, but it wouldn't be the same.
I realized in my four years that being involved was the best thing that you can do in high school. There will be days that you will say, "I wish I didn't have to go to practice after school," but knowing that in less than four years you may not ever be playing that sport again or being up on that stage performing should give you the biggest push to go to that practice. For me, theater and DECA were my extracurriculars. My last play at Roosevelt was one I will always remember. It happened every year. We stood in our energy circle, talked about how different the theater would be next year with the seniors gone. We had tears roll down our faces and ruin our stage makeup. This last year was different. I was one of the seniors we talked about. I was one of the people not coming back next year. I was the one with the most tears rolling down my face. I had the most messed up makeup. But I went out on that stage and performed my last show with a fire I never had before.
Although I am biased and have only attended one high school, I believe the teaching staff at Roosevelt High School was the best of the best. No matter what class you had, the teacher cared about you and the subject they were teaching. I never once heard a teacher tell us to learn something on our own. They always made sure that we knew what was going on and were always open to answering your questions. For that, I want to thank each and every one of them because I would not be going to the school of my dreams if it weren't for how much they cared.
I heard so many people say, "I can't wait for college," and heck even I said it a ton of times, but I would do absolutely anything to relive my high school days. A lot of people say "High School was not the best years of my life! Wait until college!" But I can say with a ton of confidence that they did not graduate from Roosevelt High School.
