So... here it is. It is finally the year 2018. The time we have all been waiting for is quickly approaching. We are finally in the last month(s) of our high school journey; but before we reach that day, let's take some time to remember all the many years leading up to graduation. From wanting to be astronauts, firefighters, teachers, and doctors to those rigorous Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment courses.

The best and worst memories are at our fingertips as we look back on the last 12 years of our lives.

Elementary school was a time that brought us most of our classmates. These people were some of your first friends, enemies, and everything in between! Those simple days of dreading naps and longing for recess. These are the days some will never forget while others try there hardest to do just that. Elementary days should be a nostalgic remembrance for all. From the monkey bars to fifth-grade graduation, this was the beginning of our education.

Middle school was quite a blur. Some people grew into their bodies, others got braces, heck... if you were me, you got both of those! We were more focused on finally being "grown" and out of elementary school in sixth grade to being eighth graders and not worrying about anything other than going to high school in a year. Soon we would no longer have to deal with "annoying underclassmen" yet ignored the fact that we would soon be them once again.

The time we all waited for... high school. Freshman year, let's face it, we were all intimidated by the large upperclassmen who seemed to tower over us. We had gone from being the top of the chain right back to the bottom for the third time in our educational careers. This was only the beginning. Getting past freshman year seemed like the longest 10 months of our lives; little did we know the next three years would FLY by.

Sooner than we knew it, the 2017-2018 school year was starting. It was FINALLY our time. Our time to win every spirit stick at every pep rally. Our time to look like those intimidating upperclassmen when in reality most of us are the most harmless inviting people any underclassman would meet. Our time to experience what the many classes of seniors had experienced before us. Our last homecoming, sporting event(s), band, dance, or cheer competition, prom, and our last year being together.

Many of us are going in different directions when it comes to college (or life in general). While we may not have another year together as classmates, we have the past 4+ years to look back on. The friendships, fights, and everything else that comes with growing up. In the blink of an eye that's what we've done...we've grown whether we realize it or not. We have all grown into the future of society.

So, to the graduating class of 2018, I wish you all the best. No matter whether you do or do not pursue further education, no matter where any of us end up in life, go forth as the best version of yourself there is. And always remember, learn from the past but embrace the future. Here's to us, and here's to graduating!! WE DID IT!