I graduated high school over a year ago, yet I continue to feel as though it was just yesterday that I finished the journey known as senior year. It's incredible to think about how different my life is now than it was then, but also, remained somewhat the same.

High school is such a turning point for the lives of many people. It can be the height of a person's popularity, the time when someone had the most going on in their lives, the most memorable events that happened... safe to say, there are definitely people who act as though they never left high school.

As I look back on those four years, I always have a rush of different feelings. Some years were better than others, some years I made more mistakes. It's especially interesting to see how much I matured over those four years, and how much more I matured over this past year.

Significant events happened to me in high school. I was in my first relationship, and I haven't dated anyone since. I was very involved with theater and music, staying after school all the time for the arts. I knew many more people then than I do now in college.

It probably sounds as though I'm feeling as though I wish I could go back, but truthfully, I don't have the need.

There are, granted, some difficulties I currently have with college. I don't have as many friends as I did in high school, because I don't see the same people every day. I am involved with less activities. I don't have as much of a bond as I do with my college as I do with my old high school, even though I still love my college the same. Really, the only thing that hasn't changed are my grades, which are the same as high school, maybe even a little higher.

High school certainly did have some things I disliked. Many of my advanced courses have workloads that I haven't seen to an extent in college, at least, not yet. Getting up early was always an issue for me. I had to deal with people whom I didn't get along with. I had to take courses I had no interest in.

I think as I look back now, I probably hold high school in a higher regard than I did when I actually WAS in high school. I had some amazing teachers. So many wonderful things happened when I was there, and at the time, I didn't realize it as such.

Essentially, high school was a great time in my life. Maybe it won't become the best four years of my life, but nonetheless, a good period. I had wonderful friends and faculty, fun activities, and plenty of fun moments in and out of the classroom. Whatever hiccups that occurred never truly affected me along the way. All in all, I am very grateful for what high school gave me, and hope any high school students who read this hold onto the moments they have, before it all goes away.