Dear Acquaintances,

This letter is for you: the person that I admired from afar, the girl that shared every class with me the past four years, the boy who I secretly thought was very intelligent. This is for you, the person I never got a chance to be close with, or maybe was too shy to. You, who I thought dressed nicely every day, or the person that spoke so well in class, I couldn’t help but notice.

This letter is for you.

With all the sentiments of graduating surrounding that of best friends, I thought it necessary to acknowledge the existence of you, my acquaintances. Through 12 years of learning together, sitting next to each other, reading together—simply existing with each other-- you have influenced my fundamental being nearly as much as any of my friends have. Yet while I will keep in touch with my friends following graduation, while I’ll still see them from time to time, there is a great chance I’ll never see or talk to you again.

So, this is a thank you, and also an apology.

Thank you for learning with me. Thank you for talking to me during class or in between periods in the hallway. Thank you for being intelligent and for sharing those opinions during class that I have come to admire over the years. Thank you for reading with me when we were little kids, and thank you for debating topics with me in high school. Thank you for playing kickball with me at recess, thank you for jump roping with me every day, and thank you for playing varsity sports with me later. Thanks for sitting with me during lunch on occasion, and thanks for doing homework next to me in the library when none of our best friends were around. Thank you for being a quintessential part of my existence all of these years, and for indirectly making me into I am today. Thank you.

That being said, I’m sorry for never becoming anything more than acquaintances. I’m sorry that possibly our lives ran parallel paths, moving next to each other but never meeting. I’m sorry for being nervous or shy when talking to you, I’m sorry for never telling you directly that I appreciate you.

At the end of the day, the ending of high school isn’t just about saying goodbye to your friends; it’s about saying goodbye to the people you’ve grown up with. And whether we like it or not, even the people we think we hate have helped us to form into who we are today. This letter is for you, the boy who bullied me in 5^th grade but I haven’t said a word to since; it’s for you, the girl that I’ve noticed quietly reading all of my favorite books over the years, but never said anything to.

Thank you for your existence in my life, and I’m sorry we never had the chance to grow closer.

I can’t promise I’ll remember you all as much as I’ll remember my best friends, but I can assure you that when I’m 50-years-old and looking through my yearbook for the first time in years, I’ll smile when I see your picture.

Until next time...