thelastdaysofhighschool

Kate Monroe

While I sit on the school bus on my way to school, I often wonder what my life will be like come August, when I start college. Typically, when I daydream nowadays, I fantasize about living on campus and being in charge of my own life. Then it dawns on me, I only have about 100 days left until I graduate. Why does this shock me? It feels so much further away than that. At this point in high school all I want to do is get it over with. I am ready to move on. I do still enjoy the company of my numerous friends that I have made over the past twelve years, but at the same time, I have an aching hunger and an unquenchable thirst to meet new people. Perhaps I am too eager to end my high school career, but I see it as I am merely eager to begin my life in the real world. Graduation for me is not the end; it is only a small beginning to my long and prosperous life ahead. Graduating from high school is not my main goal, graduating from college with a BA in Journalism is.

Shelley Flores

6:15 AM.  My alarm clock rings.  Just as I am about to get up, I realize I do not have to get up yet, I have no first period.  My hand hits the off button as it has every other day of the school year.  I lay back down and turn to face the right side of my wall.  I see a collage of pictures which I started collecting as the year progressed; Homecoming, football games, Prom, the musical, the dance concert, and many more.  After reminiscing about the photos on my wall, I turn to face the left and there is my acceptance letter to the university I wanted.  I laugh a little as I remember how panicked I was the beginning of my Senior year.  Filling out applications, searching for scholarships, AP tests and every other situation that all Seniors face.  Now in June, everything has come together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and my future is set.  6:45 AM.  Now is the time to get up.  I drag myself up from my comfortable den and stretch.  That is when it finally hits me.  My sweater says Seniors 2008.  I am graduating.

Jasmine Hobson

This is the grand finale, the final stretch. It is in this short remaining time that we will decide where we are headed and who will travel beside us on the long and wearying journey. I must admit, though I still associate with the same people, I am not the same person. High school definitely changes people, yet it remains a mystery exactly how this occurs. There is an unknown method to the chaos of our teenage years. Somehow, through our failures and successes, we find ourselves. Although high school may not be the best place for maintaining aspirations, it certainly is an excellent location for self discovery.

During these last days, the final lap, we stand solemn yet overjoyed at the prospect of our futures. From each friend lost and challenge failed to each final aced and goal achieved; in these days we are united in a common goal. We may have changed our personalities, but we have not lost sight of our future. In these four years, we have learned useless facts and important lessons, but, most importantly, we have discovered ourselves. And with these discoveries, we step on this uncharted path, armed with only our minds.

Genoveva Thomas

The last days of high school are usually the most expected time in a teenager’s life.  Those days seem to take an eternity to arrive and yet once they do they seem to just fade away.

The last days of high school are full of contradicting emotions. We all want to end this chapter of our lives even though most of us are afraid of what is going to happen to us after we walk down the stage and receive our diplomas. We want to leave but at the same time we wish for one more school day.

The last days of high school will fill the halls with sentimentalisms of the friendships that will no longer be as strong, or the love that will not stand the distance and time.  During these days, our surroundings start to change as graduation sinks in and we see our teachers, our mentors give us their last lessons. The classrooms that were once full of laughter are now invaded by nostalgia.

We will begin a cycle of cleansing to enter the next stage, taking the best from the old and forgiving the bad, but never forgetting what here we have learned and lived.

Brenda Navarro

As the days go by, the time to put on those caps and gowns and walk across the stage to graduate gets closer and I can already feel the anxiety, happiness, and hectic ness of those last days of High School.

The thought of graduation will fill me with happiness and pride for knowing that I was able to accomplish one of my dreams.  However sadness and fear will also overcome me. I will be sad because I know that I will be leaving the school that taught me for four long years and I will probably never see my classmates again and many friendships will be broken due to the distance and lack of communication.

Fear will also be present those last days because the thoughts of how my life is going to be after high school will hunt me. If whether I am going to succeed in college and in life as an independent person, fully responsible for my actions terrifies me because I do not want to fail. Those last days will be of mixed emotions, therefore all I wish is that I can look back at these days as one of the best in my life.

Russell Hanson

In the last days of high school I will not be focused on the end of high school. Instead I will be much more interested on the beginning of college. As summer begins my sister will return from college, making my house a much smaller place. The summers get stifling in the cramped confines of the house. With my sister home with her new degree, I will be sharing a room with my younger brother, it is difficult to get along with him, but I must make due until I leave for college. I am looking forward to studying astrophysics, I have always been loved the stars and mathematics. Since I was young my father told me that I should find something I love to do and make it my career. Saying good-bye will be difficult, but the excitement of starting something I have waited so long for will be enough to keep me going. In high school I have gone as far as I can in mathematics and sciences, taking the most advanced courses my school offers, now I will be able to continue on and expand my knowledge, which is what I look forward to most.          

Robert Doherty

The last days of high school are ones of reflection and great anticipation-- remembering the past experiences and applying them toward the future.  These lasts days are also ones of growth and maturity.  The end is near, and we as students have to come to the realization that we are venturing out into the unforgiving world.  Yet, I feel that this challenge is one that I am personally capable of taking on; and, in these last days, I have come to this realization-- I am ready for the world. 

High school’s final days are ones where you find out who your true friends are; you come to see what really matters is your future, and you come to see who really supports you in your future goals-- who really wants you to succeed.  You come to find out what matters and what really has the most value. The realities of life set it; the reality that you are leaving everything behind and experience everything that life has to offer. These days are nostalgic as I remember the past here, all of the memories, and all of the hardships.  I feel that my dedication to education has prepared me to be able to handle whatever comes my way-- I’ll be primed for anything. 

However, I do possess a notion of fear for my future.  Part of me does not want to leave these last and final days-- you never know what is going to happen, who is going to disappear.  Our departure is one of some anxiety for what lies ahead in our journey through life.  However, I know that there are greater opportunities awaiting me in college; there are chances to meet new people, share ideas, and experience life through a new light; yet, I will never forget the faces I see, the memories I have, and the perspective I molded through my years here in high school. 

Julian Monk

Some see the end of high school as a glorious day, one of relief and elation. For so long, we have weathered the harshness of school buses, blacktop bullies, and the ever-irritating homework assignments. We have battled teachers and staff, ditched security guards, and bargained for grades. Being relieved of the burden must be freeing, it must be amazing.

I think otherwise, however. Reality will begin to set in. The graduees who have longed for this graduation day start to understand that the little responsibility they carried is nothing compared to the level they will soon encounter.

Everything will change. All those people who believed they would be friends forever realize that forever comes a lot sooner than you expect. For some, bills come their way. For some, the military knocks and steals them away. Others will head to college, and others to foreign places.

Those last precious days will be filled with excitement and naivity, and they will be precious. Yet, when we realize that these are the last days of being someone or somebody, having a reputation and status, and being part of a community like one we will never encounter again, these tears of happiness will fade quickly into tears of sadness and reminiscence.

Brittany Pergl

As I wander through the halls of high school for the last time, I reminisce of all the times to be had on campus, whether good or bad. I remember the struggles of freshman year, figuring out the way high school goes, introducing myself to the new people I am surrounded by, and adjusting to an overall new way of life.  Then there was sophomore year, taking new and harder classes, maintaining friendships formed the previous year, and continued adding to the vault of knowledge I had been building up throughout my school years.  Junior year was a year of transition, beginning my college search, taking AP classes and tests, and preparing myself to leave in just over a year.  Senior year has to be my favorite year of all, finalizing my college plans, spending more time with the friends I have had throughout my high school years, and finally leaving this place I had come to love and hate.

Crystal Martinez

Though high school will soon end, I will never forget the crowded aisles, the filthy restrooms, or the sweet aroma of a freshly lit stink bomb. My efforts will be worth the wait when my diploma is handed to me, and I begin the next chapter in my life.

Unfortunately, tension rises when anticipating the arrival of our dream college’s decision for our acceptance. Will we be blissful at a prestigious school, or stay trapped in Fontana? Simultaneously, students struggle to apply to numerous scholarships, because we are already penniless from senior expenses. They range from purchasing a senior sweater, to an expensive grad night ticket. Prom is especially to blame for every girl’s anxiety. The perfect dress must be found months in advance, and there cannot be any obstacles standing in the way of this flawless night.

The week of graduation finally arrives, and we discover that everything will finally come to an end. All the sleepless nights with homework and the struggles we overcame are worth accomplishing a task twelve years in the making. Nevertheless, the last days of high school are the first days of the rest of our lives.