Four years ago we stepped into
high school … individuals seeking to do well, to find our identity, to find our best friend. We opened our lockers for
the first time, looked at our schedules, thought about how great it was to finally be in high school. Four years ago we met
our best friend, got our rings, we went to our first school dance, had a crush on a cute senior. Four years ago, we couldn't
wait to get older
Three years ago we stepped into
high school believing that we owned the place. No longer the lowly freshman, we had a new attitude. Still individuals searching
for themselves, looking to fit in, wanting to achieve something. We followed our daily routines, got our licenses, expanded
our circle of friends, and talked about parties. Three years ago we made a new best friend, went out with our friends every
weekend, thought we were too mature for school dances. Three years ago we couldn't wait to get older.
Two years ago we became upper classman.
We began to realize that we were growing up. We started driving out on weekends. Two years ago we realized who our true friends
were and cherished the times we spent with them. We found where we fit in, yet still seemed to be looking for something else.
Two years ago we started talking about college, thinking it was still so far away. We had our junior prom, cheered our hardest
at football games, and started to realize that time really does fly. But two years ago we still couldn't wait to
get older.
One year ago we entered the school
as seniors. We had senioritis before classes even resumed, we got to leave school early and come in late. Everything we did
was the last … our last homecoming pep rally, our last season in a sport, our last birthday at home. One year ago we
took our time together for granted, we went to party after party on the weekend, we rebelled, and we learned. One year ago,
we still had the same best friend and cherished time spent with them. We started applying to college, far and near. We got
accepted, we got rejected, we found exactly where we wanted to go. We realized that we would no longer have the comfort of
home within a year.
Now, we finally realize that
we could have waited to get older. We realize that time has somehow slipped away and soon we will be saying good-bye. Saying
good-bye to our friends, our family, our home. Maybe for a short time … maybe forever. Soon we will go to our senior
prom, graduate, sit for the last time with everyone. It is the last time we will all be together, recognized as the class
of 2005. Now we are getting excited about starting over, getting sad about what we will leave behind, getting anxious to move
on. Now we realize just how important our best friends are, how much fun we really did have in the four years. Now we wish
we could be younger. We wish we could have taken the time to appreciate every moment … to slow down time. Now we face
having to say good-bye.
In one year we will return as different
people. We will have experienced dorm life, ate campus food, met new friends. We will have joined a club, maybe a sorority,
done something new. In one year we will be new people. We will still be searching for our identity … to find our niche.
We will have picked majors, changed majors, passed and failed at things we tried. In one year we will know more about ourselves
and what we want to become. We will remember the past times and look fondly at the memories, although we will have created
new memories. Yet one thing will still remain. In one year, we will still have that same best friend. Maybe since kindergarten,
maybe since high school, maybe a college roommate. That person can be found in new friends and old. Without them, we would
have nothing. Four years brought change. Friendship held us strong when things were shaky, in good times and bad, in laughter
and tears, through boyfriends, bad grades, family problems, and love … our friends showed us that life was worth enjoying.
With them, we wanted to grow up so quickly. Now, they are the only ones with whom we will remain forever young.
So, here I am, three years later and he's
three feet away from me. I could say hello, but I don't want to disturb the memory.
I've
lived in this place and I know all the faces. Each one is different, but they're always the same. They mean me no harm but
it's time that I face it, they'll never allow me to change... But, I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong...
I'm moving on.
As we
grow up we learn that even the one person who wasn't supposed to let you down, probably will. You will have your heart broken,
probably more then once, and it's not easier the second time around. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when
yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend, and you may even fall in love with them. You'll blame a new boyfriend
for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast and you'll eventually lose someone you love. Life is
short take too many pictures laugh way too much and love like you've never been hurt before cause every minute you spend mad
or upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back...
Senior
year is unlike any other. Here are a few things you should know.. It won't hit you when you wake up for your last first day
of school. It won't hit you as you walk into the Senior locker bay for the first time as an official senior. It won't hit
you when you cheer at your last homecoming pep rally and attend your last football game. It won't hit you as you go to your
last homecoming dance and realize Prom is way better without the lower classmen and the DJ. It won't hit you as you enter
the floor to perform at state for the last time. It won't hit you as you fill out the countless college applications. It won't
hit you as you write that generic essay letter that you try to use for all your applications. It won't hit you as your college
friends return for Christmas break and give you all their advice. It won't hit you as you celebrate New Year's with the friends
you have known since childhood. It won't hit you when you cheer at your last Senior night and cry your eyes out! You won't
feel it when you are having the time of your life at your last spring break. You don't realize it during Senior skip day,
when everyone, no matter what group you are in, has a picnic. When May finally comes around and you realize that it is your
last Prom, but you don't really feel it when you are there having the time of your life. You begin to realize it at Graduation
when you look around and realize that you will never see half of these people again. You will begin to see it more over the
summer when everyone is getting their roommates, class schedules, and going to orientation. It still hasn't fully hit you
when you are sitting in your room packing up the past 18 years of your life, laughing with your best friend about all the
stupid stuff you've done. You might feel it the morning you leave for college as that it is the last time you will see your
room, your parents, and your best friend for like 3 months. It will finally hit you when you are sitting in your dorm room
with a perfect stranger, that you have to live with for the next year. Please, Please, PLEASE make every moment of your Senior
year count, you only get to do it once. College will be a lot of fun, but in the meantime, jump at every opportunity you get
to do anything that you have ever wanted to do. Spend as much time with friends as possible, for it will not be long until
you meet new people and inevitably grow apart.
There are some things that we never want to let go of. People we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that
letting go isn't the end of the world. It's the beginning of new life.
And its happened again. I’ll turn to a friend, someone who understands, sees through the master plan. But everybody's
gone. And I’ve been here for too long to face this on my own. Well I guess this is growing up.
We never really grow up. We just learn how to act in public.
He and I were proper. He made me a better person and now I've lost him, and I don't want to move on, I want to stay
right here, where I am, with him
The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all
hurt.
The hardest thing about
growing up is that you have to do what's best for you, even if it means breaking someone's heart, including your own.
You
can tell a child is growing up when he stops asking where he came from and starts refusing to tell where he is going
Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew
it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be, other days; new days; days to come. The thing is
we didn't have to hate each other for getting older, we just had to forgive ourselves...for growing up
When is the age or even the moment when you go from being kids to being something else? People say that we're growing
up too fast today. Sometimes adults make it sound like it's our fault or at least our choice, but how can we not? We feel
invincible, we know so much. One thing I do know is that we're so eager to lose our innocence and I wonder if one day, we'll
look back and wish we hadn't
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