"So no one told you life was gonna be this way" [A gathering of '90s friends clap too many times in a row]

You've finished high school and the whole experience is being capped off- pun definitely intended- with a slew of celebrations and farewells. So after you've tearfully hugged your best friends goodbye, taken delicately posed photos with them, and drove off your high school's campus as if it was the last time you'd be there- probably not considering those halls became a home away from home for four (hopefully) wonderful years-, now what? As you leisurely spend time with your family, eating cake and reminscing on how you indeed did grow up fast, the graduation party invites begin to pile up in your mailbox and email inbox. Onward and upwards to celebrations complete with artsy displays, slideshow presentations, lots of photo shoots, and conversations among the graduates regarding school because now that it's over and we've been free agents, what else is there to really talk about? As you laugh with your friends you might also talk about your futures and how blooming excited you are to leave your hometown. But maybe you'll recall what grad season was like for you. For me, it was a bit more of the latter.

Being a student at a Catholic high school, my last day of classes was in mid-May. The free days that I had loomed over me and were rather cumbersome than enjoyable. I was very very bored and as someone who values structure a little too much, my free time wasn't so productive. Prom gave me something to look forward to and prep for, as did the weekend trip following it. But after all the high school related fun was had, what was next? Sure, errands were run but I slipped into the all too familiar teenage activity – binge-watching television shows. And while this became enjoyable, one can only watch so many Netflix shows and other programs before wanting to do everything else to stay busy and sane. Amidst all the preparation for graduation and college, I was faced with a rather grim truth – I could lose my grandfather, a man that I loved so very much and did not have the pleasure of seeing very frequently as we were an ocean away from each other. And that I did.

While I was occupied with the task of finding a dress for graduation and for the probable funeral, my grandpa passed on quietly. I did not find this out until my father got home early, a disdained look upon his face. He knew for hours and my mother did not wish to burden me when I was out in public. And so, my graduation week was filled with a bit of a whirlwind collection of bittersweet goodbyes. I ventured with my father to England, where my mother had been frequently flying to and from for over a month's time. I said goodbye to my grandfather with no tears flowing down my face but plenty forming in my eyes. I sang for those who came to honor him, with a river of tears choking me up. I spoke about him at the luncheon we had for him while a slideshow lingered in the background. And then after two days of time with my family in my second homeland, my feet found themselves walking through an airport to board a flight so that I could reluctantly attend my graduation festivities. That I did, all gussied up with pin-straight hair and some brand spanking new white heels upon my feet.

Within 48+ hours, I had bid a long awaited farewell to the man who watched me blossom into the young person I am today and to the teachers, friends, and environment that provided me with the rich set of knowledge and skills that I now possess. I suppose now is the time to sincerely buckle down and get to thinking and to preparing for the new stage of life that I am embarking on this fall. After all, I have officially closed off graduation season with that last piece of ribbon tying my diploma together – my own graduation party complete with immersing my dear loved ones into the longest pastime I possess – making music.

So to graduation season 2017, I say farewell. You were more difficult and melancholy than I would have ever foreseen, but strangely enough, I would not change the manner in which you appeared to me for anything. You brought me a sense of love and support that will always reaffirm my faith in humanity and the wonderful human beings fate has brought into my life.