Halfway through 11th grade, I moved from Pennsylvania to South Dakota. On Dec. 26, I looked into the rearview mirror of my mother's car and saw the town I grew up in, drift away into a part of the past. Nearly three years and 1,200 miles later, I still spend a significant amount of time thinking about the people I left behind. To those people who were there for me through think and thin, this is for you.

From elementary school to junior year of high school, all of you are what kept me fighting through every terrible thing I endured during my time in Waynesboro.

You are all the reason I wasn't afraid to be myself, no matter what others had to say about it. If you are one of my best friends back home, you taught me more about being unique than anyone ever has. You never cared what anyone had to say about you or your friends. You never changed for anyone.

To the shortest 21-year-old I've ever met, you have the biggest heart I have ever seen in a person. You have the capacity to care about anyone, no matter what they put you through. You've never failed to surprise me with how committed you are to staying friends with me even through the distance. Just the idea that you might be coming to visit me is enough to make me feel important, and I thank you for that.

To the girl I've been friends with since the beginning of 7th grade, I admire your ability to always be yourself, regardless of what anyone thinks of you. The day I visited you in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the summer means more to me than I could ever describe. Even though I went out of my way to see you, it was all worth it. I was sad to say goodbye to you again after such short few hours, but I will cherish that short-lived memory until the next time I see you.

To each and every person in Waynesboro who ever gave me a shoulder to cry on, a friend to hug, and/or someone to tell everything to, I could never put into words how much you mean to me. No matter if I live 1,200 miles away or if I still lived there, your worth will never change in my eyes. Every year, I still look forward to seeing you when I go back to visit, even if I feel like nobody there other than you guys actually wants to see me. You are the people who made the first 16 years of my life bearable, the people who showed me what commitment was, the people who made moving the hardest experience of my life.

No matter how much time passes, no matter how many new friends I make at college or in my new home, you will always mean the world to me. You are all a part of almost every high school memory, and I will never forget you. I never could even if I tried.