Closure of Chapter 1 and Onto Chapter 2

All around the world while every day events occur and life goes on, the class of 2020, myself included is wrapping up their high school careers. This time is bittersweet, for many of us this time means new adventures and the excitement of going into the world as adults. For some of us perhaps there is fear of the world we are entering. Another portion of us might be feeling a time of mourning per say, I know I am... For many people high school is just simply a rite of passage and a step that must be taken on the path of life to get to the next staircase. For some high school is just a limbo area between childhood and adulthood and while that is certainly not a bad thing, for some of us our high school experience goes deeper, much deeper than that. For some high school meant learning life lessons and connecting with mentors whom without we are unsure where we would be right now. It meant being pushed by a teacher who believed in us more than we believed in ourselves. It meant being introduced to a subject we thought we would fail at but instead grew to love and excel at. It meant growing and learning about life, about love, about the world around us and about our own hearts. Some of us met some of the most influential mentors we may ever have in our lives, we had opportunities we didn't dream of having, we had moments that spiked inspiration and drove us into creation and planning for our futures. We made friendships that we only hope will go beyond our high school experience, some of us became whole new people and perhaps right when we began to understand the new version of ourselves the rug was pulled from under us. Point being graduation is an exciting time for students across the globe, however there are a few of us who clung to every word our mentors said and soaked up every moment we had to learn and grow and while moving on may be exciting, we are also mourning the loss of some of the most influential people in our lives. On behalf of those students in the same boat as me who are excited but with the excitement our hearts feel the weight of that we are leaving behind, I want to thank the mentors who impacted us so greatly that we feel this loss. It is bittersweet but I am thankful for the loss I feel because it is a reminder that I had such great people in my life the last four years to cause that feeling now. To my mentors, keep inspiring students, Ms., Vitro, thank you for introducing me hesitant mind to poetry, it has been a way to express myself that I never saw possible before you pushed me to write my very first poem that year. Thank you, Ms. Imig, for taking me under your wing and pushing me to write farther then I have before and helping me to accomplish 4 college credits. Thank you, Mrs. Coleman, for recruiting me to student government as an excited little freshman and helping me reach my goal of becoming class president, thank you for supporting all my crazy ideas and endeavors. Thank you, Ms. Kindler Gains, for answering my endless CTE questions and calming me down every time I got stressed about an assignment or deadline, you kept me steady. Thank you, Mr. Meyers, for providing me the opportunity of a lifetime to compete at ILC, the hard work you put into getting me there means so much. Thank you, Mr. Bergdall, for letting me bug you even after you were no longer on my teacher list, and thank you to all other ORCA staff who had such an impact on my life these last four years. As I go into my next four years, I will keep your words of wisdom in my mind and your caring and compassionate spirits in my heart. Again, thank you and not goodbye but more like see you later perhaps in the next chapter of my life. <3