Well, you did it. You never thought the day would finally come, but it did.

You went your separate ways, no longer bound within the walls of your small town high school. Looking back, you laugh at your worries of how good you looked, who you were going to the next social event with, or whose football jersey you were going to wear on Friday night.

The mundane high school years are far behind you.

It’s been over a year since you had to report to school at 7:30 a.m. every morning to sit through classes for seven hours learning about subjects that you didn’t always like. You whined, cried, laughed, but you made it through.

So what are you doing now?

Is adult life treating you well?

You have your freedom to be who you want to be. You have the ability to pursue the careers you have a passion for. You have the power to prove people wrong, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted-- to defy the stereotypes of the small town teen? To prove you were more than cornfields and cows, jacked up trucks and bonfires.

You are smart. You are driven. You are hard-working. You are more than the confines of this small town and that’s ok. You may have gone off to college, you may return to your hometown, or you may not. Regardless of where you end up, your small town high school is where your roots originally took hold and pieces of you still remain. In the halls of the school, on the stage in the auditorium, playing on the gym floor, and running through the sports' fields, you were there.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Small town high schoolshold true too that. Did something wrong? Everyone knows. Everyone knows every last detail about you and your life because you look out for one another. Although there may be some times when you hate it, you wouldn't have it any other way.

For a long time I have been sour about where I came from, but now all I can say is I’m proud. I’m proud of my roots. I’m proud of the little school that had high expectations.

With that, let’s continue to build and create ourselves. Let’s become the generation to make our little town proud.

Thank you to my classmates, my experiences good and bad wouldn’t have been the same without you!