The past four years have been filled with an enormous amount of laughs, cries, hugs, drama, fights and, most importantly, a substantial amount of love. I remember going to my older sister’s graduation in sixth grade and hearing the classic yet repetitive quote, “High school goes by so fast,” and thinking they were crazy. Six years later, it turns out they were right. As the school year starts to speed up and approaches the beginning of the end, it’s hard to find the words to describe exactly how I feel.

Similar to the stereotypical high school experience, my high school experience has been a combination of academic challenges, self-growth and many new social settings. While the good did outweigh the bad, I am thankful the bad days had more love and support than I ever felt. As one of my favorite chapters comes to a bittersweet yet exciting end, it’s so wild to think about all the memories I have made.
Throughout high school, my favorite comfort movie series has always been all of the “High School Musical” films. They have always been there, whether I was watching it to make me feel better after a rough day, screaming and dancing around Dailey’s living room, or even watching the third one while I filled out my graduation party invitations. While I might have been naive to assume my experience would be similar to the movies, the third and final movie was pretty spot on with their interpretation of senior year of high school: trying to figure out who we want to be.

While high school has been filled with ups and downs, my friends have been one of the most consistent throughout my four years. They didn’t only teach me what being loved and appreciated felt like but also how to love myself. As there were additions to the friend group throughout my sophomore and junior years, the support system only grew more. You can’t truly understand who I am without knowing how my friends are. Through the jokes, random hangouts, teasing, laughing, crying, the hard realization that none of my closest friends are going to the same school as me has made the beginning of the end all the bit harder.
While I am excited to continue my academic journey and expand my social circle, I am incredibly grateful to the time and memories that I leave Grosse Pointe South with.