When I walked into PHS  for the first time, I was terrified. I went to the wrong class, was late to my 1B, didn’t say a word through block 2, didn’t know anyone at lunch, was surrounded by upperclassmen for block 3 and couldn’t find the classroom for my block 4. It’s hard to believe that was 10 months ago. It’s hard to believe that some of my best friends won’t be coming back. The graduation itself wasn’t anything new. The normal songs, the normal routine. The only thing that stood out was the people.

We watched as our best friends, siblings, kids, colleagues, and students crossed that stage, victorious as always. Now, some may have been cheered for louder than others, and some were people that I didn’t know even existed. In a school this big, that’s an easy thing to do, hide. But regardless of how many sports you played, clubs you joined, class discussions you led, grades you got, or plays you starred in, you all affected each and every one of us watching in some way.

Maybe you never became class president. Maybe you never got above a C. But thank you for the directions, the inside jokes, the songs we sang and danced to, the chants, the rants you listened to, the laughs, the bus rides, the smiles in the hall, the rides, the enthusiasm, the tears shed, the last football game, the food, the notes passed, the gum you stuck under the tables, the things you scratched into the bathroom walls, the messages you left us, the detention blues, and the lunch food you stuck to the walls.

Class of 2017: We have laughed with you, smiled with you, cried with you, rocked out with you, marched with you, gone on bus rides with you, practiced with you, sung with you, ran with you, cheered with you, studied with you, hated you, envied you, lost you, missed you, hugged you, became friends with you and loved you. And now we have said goodbye to you. Or maybe see you later. And it hurts, to say goodbye to a class so near to our  hearts.

The school feels a little more lonely now that you aren’t here. The halls are a little quieter, and the songs are a little sadder. High school is a wondrous place. It shelters us from what we believe is the real world. And it seems so long while you’re here, but I’m sure some of you would give anything for one more day. I wish you all good luck, good fortune, and happiness. Every ending is a new beginning. This is your beginning.

We watched you all walk across that stage, surprised at the pang of sadness. Surprised that the year was almost over. Those ten months passed so fast, and I wish we had ten more.