Sure, It was a day that every High School student looks forward to. That final ceremonial act would, superficially, be the easiest and least meaningful: Commencement – put on the cap and gown, sit through a few speeches, receive my diploma, take pictures and go out to celebrate.
But in those last hours as a student, the perky, optimistic, ready-for-anything face I’d worn for four years melted away. I'd soon completely fall apart.
“Kingsley, don’t cry,” my good friend, Lena – who is a rising junior, told me the next morning. You see, at my school, the student body is extremely school compared to most NYC public high schools. So it is very easy for one to get close and have support when faced with adversities.
Graduation is a celebration of not only your success but also that of your family. One cannot achieve success without making sacrifices. Sacrifices that I'm sure everyone since graduate of the Class of 2016 have made throughout their high school career. So be sure to congratulate your peers and celebrate their successes. There is so much to look forward to, but don't let this be the focus because then it will feel remote and less appealing.
"I don’t want to leave. I don’t want this year to be over"
“I can’t help it,” I said to myself later on that day. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want this year to be over. Nothing will ever be this good again.”
There's a tradition we have where on the last day, the High School graduates would walk through the halls for the last time while everyone in the school cheers them on and bid them farewell. As I walked out of the school for the last time, I was standing at the bus stop – not myself. Yes, I engaged in conversation with my closest friends but I had this overwhelming urge inside me and I inevitably couldn't control.
As I swipe and take a seat, tears began to stream down my cheeks. There was a reoccurring thought: "This is it. Everything is about to change". I rapidly wipe away the tears in hopes that no one noticed. I was calm but terrified. Still am actually. I feel like someone is constantly watching my every move. Making sure that I don’t derail.
High School had delivered to me everything that I could have ever wanted as a teenager. It had surrounded me with gifted individuals who always had something interesting to say. It had allowed me to be whoever I wanted to be, and so many things at once: A leader, a singer, an actor, a dancer, a scholar, an artist and a scientist.
And now, upon receiving a diploma, that person would be thrown into a world of total uncertainty. I am terrified by the thought that I would never truly be any of those things again. Even though I have an idea of what it is I want to study in college, there's no career that I can think of that'll allow me to incorporate all these things that I'm passionate about. But I'm aware now that it is up to me to take the initiative to change that and take my dreams and make it a reality.
