T-minus 4 class days.

This is it: The time every senior class before us warned us about. I don't think I'm the only one here who didn't believe them when they told us that this time would fly. And yet here we are.

I was driving to school and I couldn't believe we were already here. Wasn't community day only yesterday? Didn't fall sports just have their try outs? How is it that my brand new notebook I bought a week before class began is now completely filled? It can't be almost over!

I vividly remember Viaggio Days when my Viaggio was giving us the tour of the school. She stopped in front of the old, haunted elevator, looked at us seriously and said, "Enjoy it guys. I can't believe how fast it's gone." I was only a freshmen! I had four years! That was an outrageous amount of time! That's four Christmas's, two long summer breaks, and six semesters from now until my Senior year. How could that fly by?

But how it has flown. Our final all school mass passed by and now we only have four class days; four class days left to do so much:

Only four more days to sit in senior hallway.

Only four more days to get our famous nachos.

Only four more days to talk with our favorite teachers, say hi to them in the hallways, and eat in their classrooms because sometimes, their company was better than your friends.

Only four more days to walk through Merici and Brescia then back to Merici and then back to Brescia.

Only four more days of our favorite classes.

Only four more days of having our outfit decided for us for all four years.

Only four more days of lockers, a UA planner, and prox cards.

There is so much to miss. I can't believe how much I'm going to miss. I laugh because a few years ago, all I wanted to do was get out and not have to deal with the crushing amount of homework and stress I was dealing with. But now, as the days slip by, the thought seems unimaginable.

So naturally, as most things Ursuline related do, I'm giving you a challenge, class of 2017. Take a good look around. Every teacher has told you over and over again to cherish these moments and to enjoy the present. Listen to these words. Eat two boats of nachos, you won't regret it a month from now. Take the time to talk to your favorite teachers; you're going to miss them next year. Take a day off work to hang out with your junior and underclassmen friends; they're probably holding back how hard this is for them to say goodbye. Read over your notebooks from class; I was amazed to see how much we had done in such a short time. Spend activity periods walking around campus; four years and you may still find something new.

The priest at mass said we are in a strange in between. We're already leaving but we haven't left yet. He's right but ladies, we have not left nor will we. Yes we will have to go to college and say goodbye to rolling up to the student parking lot everyday but if there's anything I've learned from Ursuline, it's that we never truly leave. A part of us remains behind, in the memories of the students we leave, the teachers who taught us and the conversations that stay in these walls. So don't start preparing to say goodbye. Start saying, I'll see you later.

I'm looking forward to these final days with you and I've already bought my jumbo pack of tissues.

Love,

Molly