As my senior year began to die down and classes became more relaxed, I started to realize that this was the end. Four years have passed, four years of friendships, football games, proms, uniforms and morning assemblies.

I can remember my first day of high school very clearly. Aside from the normal nerves, I felt a surge of anticipation because I was ready to move on from grammar school and really start to grow up.

I went to St. Mary High School, a tiny and close-knit school in Rutherford, New Jersey. I graduated with less than 70 kids, a complete shock to many of my friends who attended much bigger schools. A lot of people can argue and say that being in a small school meant everyone knew your business, which was absolutely true and could sometimes be very exasperating. However, let me tell you this: I knew everyone’s name, what activities they were involved in, who their friends were, where they were going to college, and who they truly were as a person. We found comfort in each other and I can proudly say I was a friend to every single one of my classmates. As we go our separate ways and leave our small school, the close relationship I formed with every single one of them is something I am going to miss entirely. The transition coming from such a small class will be something we might not adjust to very well right away, but I have enough faith in all of them that we are all going to be just fine.

All of this, it is a part of life. We begin things, we end things — and then the cycle continues. All of the experiences we face in life, whether they be good or bad or easy or hard, they give us the ability and strength to face new adventures. We say goodbye to old things or places in order to say hello to the new things or places. The middle, though, the middle is what really counts in the long run.

Between the hello and goodbye of high school, in that so-called “middle," I learned not only my core subjects, but about life situations that I will face once I walk out those doors. I met friends who I could not imagine my life without, friends who were there for me when I needed them and friends I was there for when they needed me. I met teachers who pushed me to my utmost potential, so much as to keep me after school until I finally understood the lesson to a T. I faced challenges in and outside the classroom and even experienced some of the happiest times of my life.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. So when I put on my graduation cap and gown last month, I felt a flood of all those memories come to my mind. The comfort of knowing everyone came to an end and I am going to have to start this all over again, this time in a much bigger school.

And so it came to an end, and here I am, just a month until college classes start. I most likely will be thinking of all my high school classmates as they start their new journey, too, and the thought of knowing we are all still in this together, is comforting. We are all in a constant movement of growing up and moving on.

Life is what it is, so just enjoy it.