To the class of 2018,

We made it! It’s May of our senior year, college commitments are in, prom plans are being solidified. To be honest, I sort of feel like we are sitting on the edge of a cliff that’s about to crumble away beneath us. Whether you’re eager to break free, nervous about what’s to come, or a little of both, things are about to change. We’re going to have to “adult”.

That being said, we are a generation that has been put through many trials up to this point. From testing madness in the wake of common core (I personally will have taken 13 Regents exams by the time I graduate) to the rise of the earth-shattering social media, we’ve felt the pain of being practical guinea pigs. We are also the generation of heated political rivalries, both domestic and international, and of a world of metal detectors and sudden (and constant) threats.

If we’ve gotten through all that, then we can definitely handle the rest.

Additionally, I’d like to mention that, all things considered, Northport has given us some pretty great opportunities. No matter what we’ve been interested in, between classes, clubs, and sports, we’ve been able to pursue our passions. The courtyards and the Commons are things that I can’t imagine having a high school experience without. Events like Relay for Life and the Fruit and Veggie Market are just plain great. There is nothing quite so telling of the spontaneity of high school as a kid walking around holding a pineapple, or even a lunch table arguing about how to cut a mango with a plastic knife. It’s all the funny, random moments that I’m going to miss the most. It’s the crazy adventures with friends and the class-wide inside jokes.

I’ll be sad to leave this school behind, but I’m excited for what’s to come. We will be able to start calling the shots in our own lives. We can vote, drive, go to college, enlist, get a job, become who we want to be if we aren’t already. That this is such a formative time, and that we will likely never forget it, may be the biggest clichés of growing up, but there’s got to be a reason that every coming of age story has them. What other reason than that they’re true?

Whether high school was a living hell of a hell of a time, we all have to keep moving. The next leg of the marathon, whatever it may be, is about to start whether we are ready or not. And so, as we move forward, my parting words: have an adventure!