Staying grounded
Stay grounded sounds cliche and you’ve probably heard it so many times from teachers and parents, but the truth it holds is powerful. I hear from seniors all the time about how ready they are to leave high school, about how they didn’t enjoy their time here whether it’s because of high school drama or stressful school work. I’m the opposite, I wish I had more time here. What I think high school students fail to realize is that once all of this is gone you will never have any of it ever again. That person that you don’t see outside of school but talk with in your math class, you’ll never see them again. That lunch group you eat with, it’s going to get broken up and people will go their separate ways. That one teacher you consider an inspiration, you won’t have the opportunity to talk to anymore once you’ve graduated. It can be easy to look at the negatives of high school, I know I’m guilty of doing that during my first three years here. However I’ve come to appreciate this place not because of any one specific experience, but because of a million experiences that have happened over the course of my senior year. Everyone always talks about firsts but never lasts. Senior year is filled to the brim with lasts. Last first day, last homecoming, last interim reports and the last time walking the halls of WJ. Small things like saying hi to that one person in the halls or that joke someone cracked at lunch carries so much more meaning once you understand that it won’t last forever. For us seniors, it won’t even last a few more months. So yeah you’ve heard people tell you to stay grounded in the present moment, but have you actually been trying to? This year I’ve learned that I enjoy life so much more when I focus on what I’m doing right now. Not about what I’m doing later with friends, not about that assignment due in a week, but right now. I hope all of you can do the same with your time in college and beyond. It was truly a privilege and blessing to have shared these past four years with all of you and I wish nothing but the best for all of you going forward.
