I remember reading the last columns of my past two editors. They were beautifully written goodbyes, and since then I’ve been thinking about what mine would be about. I thought I’d write some sappy, heartbreaking story about how sad I’ll be when I walk out those doors for the last time and leave the people that have grown to mean so much to me over these four years. Or perhaps I would just stick to some cliche advice to freshmen that they’ve most positively heard before. But when the time finally came upon me to write this column I found myself rather displeased with my choices. Everything sounded so downcast as I wrote my final goodbye. Something I’m sure none of us want to read after the year we’ve all had.

But as I thought about it more, why did everything I wrote have to be so sad? Endings are sad, yes, but with those endings also come new beginnings, and those are happy. When I walk out the doors of SHS for the final time I know that soon I will be walking into the doors of a new school, and I can’t tell you how much that excites me. There’s so much to look forward to as I gaze longingly into my future. Maybe my mind is clogged with fantastic ideals that I may never live up to, but the possibilities are exciting just the same. If there is anything I have learned up to this moment in my life, it’s that nothing lasts forever, and I can accept that. It’s useless to push back against the inevitable. I’ve known since the day I could comprehend the idea of college that I would one day leave. Sure it’s scary when it ultimately arrives, but recently I’ve learned to welcome the idea with open arms.

The only thing that I can’t twist into a happy ending are the feelings I will have when I will have to leave the people I love. To my mom: I’m not sure how I will get by without your being there to help me solve every little micro dilemma. To my dad: I will forever miss our rides to school each morning. To my brother: even though you’re already far away I will feel the distance even more when I leave. To my Grammy: I will wait longingly for when I can come home again and read my poetry to you. And to my best friend in the entire world: you are one of the best things to have ever happened to me, and no words can express how much I am going to miss you.