Here we are. Senior year. It’s no longer a matter of years: but days, hours, minutes. My parents always said to me, “Now don’t be in a hurry to grow up because it’s going to be gone before you know it.”

I always just brushed the idea of me growing up off my shoulders. Looking back, I know realize that my crazy parents were right. I’m now facing my future outside these protective walls. My experience going through high school seemed so great, so terrible, so frightening and dramatic that even the best movie producer could not recreate it.

I came to school for an education, and I definitly got what I bargained for. But the learning didn’t take place inside the classroom. It was the people I met, the friends I made, and the friends I lost.

I learned how to love, how to deal with heartbreak, how to manage time and how to stick up for myself. I learned how to face my fears and to deal with my problems.

Times got hard and sometimes I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to make it through, but I did.

And now I get to walk across that stage and accept my diploma.

I couldn’t have done it without the teachers who where there for me through every step of the way. Always leaving their door open for me at anytime that I needed help. Going out of their way and dedicating their time for me.

If it weren’t for my best friends, my high school experience wouldn’t have been pleasant at all. My friends gave me a shoulder to lean on, and I could go to them anytime I needed them. They added fun, excitement, and companionship.

It’s true what they say. “One true and loyal friend is better then a thousand non-loyal friends.”

I firmly believe that things work out the way that they are supposed to. And everything that happens in life happens for a reason. I come away from every positive and negative situation with something learned.

My high school career may be over but my life isn’t. Every friend, mentor, love, and enemy that has come into my life, I thank you for making me the person that I am.  Each one of you has taught me something valuable about my life.

It’s hard to think that now that I’m done with high school I won’t every see about 98% of the people that I see on a regular bases for the rest of my life. But that’s just how life goes and now that I get to move on with my life, all I can do is remember those who have changed me, taught me, and showed me how to be the person that I am today. So to this wonderful school. I say thank you and good bye.