Moving the Tassel

Watching our honors physics partners, team captains, classmates and friends receive their diplomas, I was filled with a sense of excitement and sadness. Sadness for the formal recognition of those I spent the last three years of school with will soon be leaving for college. Also, excitement that I am entering my senior year!

Class of 2021, though many of you have significantly changed since you first made the six-flight trek up the E Building stairwell freshman year, you leave this school with the same hopeful, slightly nervous and determined faces. This time, however, you have something you didn’t before: the knowledge that you are capable of more than you think, the lessons of life that you have learned along the way, and the certainty that the people who have supported you through the last four years will continue to cheer you on through college. Congratulations, Class of 2021! Together you have survived high school, but it doesn’t just end there. The SBS community and your classmates will be here to support you for the rest of your lives. Don’t forget to come back and say hi, you will be greatly missed!

Fast forward a year from now and I will be participating in the ceremony I spent last Friday night watching. My classmates and I will stand next to each other, just as the seniors did, and throw our caps into the air, our hopes and dreams for college and the future soaring with them as the book that is our high school career officially closes. However, before then, we enter our senior year, slowly becoming more aware of the leadership role we have the opportunity to play. We have the challenge of living in the moment, being aware of our gratitude, all the while filling out college applications as we anxiously await the decisions that determine our future. SBS has prepared us well, and whether we feel ready or not, we enter our last lap full speed ahead!

By the time we have completed high school, we will have spent 5,040 plus hours together over the course of four years, and that is just the time in school, not including after-school practices, musicals and get-togethers with friends. In these hours we have created some of our best memories, built the foundation of our character, and grown lasting relationships with our best friends. Now I charge my classmates to cherish our time together. This will be the last year that we are all in the same place, sitting in the same classes, and cheering on the same football team. Though I know I will miss these experiences immensely, I am already eternally grateful for our SBS community and the experiences and relationships it has brought me. 

One last year for Friday night football games, homecoming pep rallies and the SBS fight song. One last year of rigorous SBS classes, refreshing Second Cup visits during open bin and beautiful chapel services during CT. One last year with the classmates and teammates who have grown into family and the teachers who have shaped us into the people we are today. With this last year it is our hope that we cherish every moment, develop meaningful memories and leave a positive impact on our SBS community.