When you've been going to your high school for almost four years, you obviously develop relationships with the people you see everyday. Of course your friends and classmates are included in this group, but we also include the teachers you spend your day with. It seems like high school students fail to recognize teachers and faculty as even being humans with their own personal, unique lives just like you. What do you think teachers do outside of school? Do you really think all a teacher's life consists of is making lesson plans and grading homework? Of course not! Teaching, despite being a huge part of teacher's life, is only just a fraction of an entire one-of-a-kind life that consists of memories, lessons, and stories.

As a senior with only two-ish months of high school left, I've developed a new view on my school. This place has changed me much more than I actually think. I've grown from a kid into a young adult within these hallways, classrooms, and the cafeteria. This mature emotion also gives me a very casual sense when it comes to the people above me and in charge of me. In four years I've developed relationships and built up senses of trust with my teachers. From small talk to deeper conversations about the future and my plans for my life, I can really go to teachers with anything I want. There's been days where I take off of my study hall and spend the period with another teacher on their off hour and just talk about our common interests. It's also pretty cool to connect with a teacher on a one-to-one basis instead of in a full classroom. In a classroom setting, teachers don't always show their full personalities no matter how secretly cool they may actually be.

Mr. A, thanks for being young and understanding a high schoolers mentality. Thanks for also inspiring me to take my creativity to new heights and helping me to better understand how to use my post-processing programs. Mrs. K, thank you for being able to carry on a conversation about photography. Not many here understand everything about cameras so it's good to have someone to talk to and learn more with. Mrs. W, thank you for wanting to be my partner on a reality show and also for the deep talk we had about decisions. Mrs. H, thank you for being a teenager at heart. You keep study hall young and fun and you always have positive things to say. These are only a few examples of the memories and moments I've shared with my teachers and I hope that you, the reader, can think of some fond moments you've had with teachers and the memories you've held on to from your favorite teacher. These people aren't just in our lives to teach, they're here to help, guide, lead, and be positive role models.

As I walk across the stage this coming May and finally take hold of my diploma, I'll be filled with a mix of feelings. Feelings of pride, accomplishment, and joy, as well as feelings of sadness. I'll be leaving behind many of my classmates and friends, and I'll also be leaving the people that helped to shape me during the past four years. To them, I can only give my most heartfelt thanks. I'm not sure my teachers know how highly I think of them, but it's true. On days when I looked like I couldn't care any less about class, I was still grateful to be in their classroom. No matter how far life takes me, I'll always have memories and lessons I've learned from my high school teachers. They are some of the smartest people I'll ever meet, and they genuinely love to see their students succeed. Take the time to befriend a teacher before graduation, they have much more important lessons to teach you than calculus or biology or math or anything in between.