Dear Central High's Class of 2017,

In only a few short weeks, we will begin the most anticipated year of our lives so far: Senior year.

It seems like yesterday that we walked through the doors as underclassmen, wondering what the next four year would have in store for us, scared of the upperclassmen, excited for our first football game, and nervous for sports tryouts. I distinctly remember anxiously walking into a crowd of new faces at orientation, beyond terrified that no one would like me, afraid that I would never fit in, that no one would want to be friends with me because I was the new kid coming into a group of students who already knew everyone.

Instead, I was embraced by a group of freshmen who were just as terrified as I was, and that, somehow, comforted me more than anything else really ever did.

Since that freshmen orientation, I have found myself surrounded by the most amazing group of human beings a person could ever ask to be surrounded by.

As college stares at me from a not-so-far-off distance, there are very few things I will miss about high school. I will not waking up early, stressing over tests we did not need to worry about, the crazy drama over the smallest things, the ACT preparations, the list goes on and on. The one thing I know for certain that I will miss, is every single one of you, even those who probably will not miss me.

Most of you I do not really know. We have passed each other in the hallway, maybe shared a smile or exchanged the simplest of "hellos", but we are not friends. I recognize your face and you recognize mine,, but we do not know one another. Truthfully, I had not thought much about you until now. I had not thought much about you just as I am sure you have not thought much about me. But somehow, your face has offered me a sense of familiarity and comfort in these last few years, a familiarity and comfort I will be missing as I walk into college orientation. I know that this time next year, I will find myself searching for your familiar face in a new crowd of unfamiliar faces. Thank you, for being there everyday, for passing me in the hall, for exchanging that simple "hello", for providing me a sense of comfort I was unaware that I needed until now.

And then there are those of you who become so much more than just a familiar face. There are a few of you who have somehow clawed your way into my heart and I love each of you for that. You who have stuck by me since that very first day, and I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for the good times, the awkward conversations over lunch, the inside jokes, the group text messages, and the less-than-enthusiastic pep rallies. Thank you for the arguments, the confrontations we needed to have, the heartbreak, and the tears. Thank you for being the best friends I could ever ask for. There is not a single friendship that we have created that I regret, not even the friendships that have ended in heartbreak like a few of them have.

I have come to know so many of you guys in ways I never though I would and, truthfully, I am really not sure how to move onto the next four years of my life unaccompanied by you. I cannot imagine a school year without you and I will admit that I am totally scared to walk into freshmen orientation at a university without you. I love you all so very much and I cannot begin to explain how much I will miss seeing your more-than-familiar faces as we, alone, embark on our own journey. I wish more than anything that I could you will me.

I have been beyond blessed to be apart of Central High School's Class of 2017. I would not have it any other way. Through the Friday night football games, the sad pep rallies, the spirit weeks, the homecoming pod-decorations, and all the days in between, we have made it into the final stretch of our high school career. I would not want to share this year of my life with any other group of people.

So here's to us. Here's to Central High School Class of 2017. Congratulations, we made it. So among college applications, last-minute senior projects, and long-time procrastinated scholarship essays, let's make the most of our final year together. Let's finally win the Pod-decorating competition, let's be the loudest section at the pep rallies, let's be the craziest class during Spirit Week, let's go to every Friday night football game, let's be the best senior class Central High School has ever seen.

With love,

Shelby Campbell