In the month of June, it is the month that flourishes in high school graduations. Just over a year ago, I sat in room full of my fellow peers with our blue graduation caps and gowns on, anxious to be told that to in line and begin to walk outside. As I walked outside into the football stadium, I saw nothing but proud family members and friends. I heard the music from my high school band, reliving the moments when I was the one playing for the graduates wishing to be where I was today. After we were pronounced as graduates, threw our caps into the air and walked away from the football stadium, everything started to change.

Everyone in my class went somewhere. Either to Harvard or to a local private or public college, a community college or trade school, or they went to work. Wherever someone went, I would see them again in the grocery store and notice a change. Whether that’d be small or big, they were not the same person I graduated with. Some of these changes were not good and they were a better person, but also some of them were devastating to the community that surrounded me.

I can not be the only one who thinks that when they return back to their community, everything will be the same. For instance, if you dated someone in high school, you were set for life with a partner. Some relationships that were broken during the college were saddening, others, people said “finally”. Even myself, I graduated with a high school sweetheart and I never felt so free when I broke up with him (and everyone said “finally” in my case). Some couples, are still together (some very surprising) and are either doing great or having too many issues and everyone wonders why they are still together. There are even a few people out of my graduating class who have had children, gotten married, or are engaged. People who you always talked in classes and in the halls all the sudden become strangers. However, some people whom you may have rarely ever talked to may become a friend that will last a lifetime. From friendships, to relationships, to enemies, everyone seems different.

Along the lines of thinking everything will be the same, some unexpected things have happened in your community. Some people in your graduating class, went somewhere else besides college or work, they ended up in jail. It was surprising to me to know that someone I called a really good friend for a while in my younger years ended up being a criminal. This is one of the many realizations I have had since I left and came back, the amount that people change is almost unreal. Also, my naive behavior inhibiting me from thinking that anything bad could happen to a fellow classmates.

There was one who unfortunately died of a rare pediatric cancer in the fall of my senior year. Her death resulted in an omniscient mood amongst all of the seniors, since she has lived in the area for so long and we all knew her and her family. A freak accident happened not too long ago to an incredibly sweet, God driven girl in the neighboring city, that shook up my Class of 2015 as well. These accidents, deaths, and much more have made me realize that my world is constantly changing, more so than I thought. Even those these have been major negative parts of my friend’s and communities life, I have had a sweeter realization. There is much more love than hate, and people will come to together in the midst of a tragedy. In this world that is continuously full of hate, I know that in a spur of a moment, my community will come together and help a neighbor out. Even though I knew these things to be true before I left and moved thirty minutes down the interstate for college, they are much more apparent and I appreciate them more than I did before.

There is another major difference after a year after graduation, I feel like an outsider to my own town. Instead of me looking from the inside to the out, I am looking from the outside in. I get to see Mooresville, North Carolina for it’s growth and just the wonderfulness it brings to me. While some days I wished I was still in high school where teachers were my friends, I didn’t have

anxiety, people were not criminals, passed away, or changed so much that I couldn’t recognize them, I am glad that my growth as an individual has helped me see all the changes, but still appreciate where I came from. I also appreciate who I graduated with and seeing their growth, successes, and everything that they are doing in their world. I can not believe it’s been a year after graduating high school, to the point where I don’t recognize the girl that walked across the stage with her high school diploma. However, from the great to the devastating changes, I appreciate where I come from so much more, especially all the love it has to offer.