Walking through the big, bad, high school doors on the first day of freshman year is a pivotal point in anyone’s life, whether they realize it or not.
Some people may have lost touch with those people that were walking beside them, but luckily for me, I will be walking on the day of graduation alongside the same friends I walked into high school with.
In the beginning, it was a hassle to navigate the same hallways that 2,500 other students were struggling to navigate as well. The daily traffic jams in the halls prove this point literally, but I mean this in a metaphorical sense also.
In such a large school, everyone is struggling to find their classes as much as they are trying to find themselves. Slowly but surely, as the days pass, everyone finds their path in the hall or, rather, their place in the school.
On the first day of freshman year, four years seems like forever. In the second semester of senior year, four years felt like a second. Pretty soon, all the rumors, school dances and big sports' games will come to an end.
As seniors, we are experiencing a “last time” for everything, even if we do not realize it at the moment. It is difficult to even wrap my head around the idea that all the people I have been with since pre-school will be venturing into different paths of their lives.
It comes to a point where we are no longer navigating our path in the hall or figuring out our place in the school, but we have to navigate the real world.
Before we knew it, we stopped taking the bus and started driving ourselves. My 11:00 p.m. curfew transformed into a 1:00 a.m. curfew.
Every semester the amount of studying seemed to decline. The stickers on our laptops started piling on top of each other. Our “favorite songs” seemed to change week by week (with a few exceptions.)
Without us noticing, these things happened gradually.
In high school, hardly anything stays constant for too long. Although at times, it may have seemed like we would be stuck in high school forever, we were blind to see the time flying by in front of our eyes.
We were too busy complaining half the time to even realize we matured and grew every day.
As the spring approaches, I realize we still have the prom, spring break, senior class trip and graduation coming up. These events will fly by too and soon be just an image in our memory.
In order to cherish these last few months, I will spend less time worrying about what prom dress everyone is wearing, what college everyone is going to and who is going to prom together.
I would much rather disregard the mainstream topics of high school conversation and focus on the small yet important details about my best friends whom I will not enjoy the luxury of seeing on a daily basis next year.
My high school career can be defined simply by packing 10 girls in a car daily, McDonald's McNuggets, stealing street signs and hammocking in the valley.
I may have taken these simple pleasures for granted in the past, but I now realize all these seemingly small components of my life may soon disappear.
The “last time” for everything could happen without my knowledge, so I want to ensure I do not miss a second. High school gives everyone a free pass to still act like a kid, but by the end of your senior year, the pass expires.
Little did we know there was an intangible contract hanging over our heads the whole time. The end of high school marks the end of our childhood, whether we are ready to accept it or not.