Dear senior,

As we begin what seems like the final lap of the race, we should also reflect on everything that brought us here. The good, the bad, and everything in between have shaped our college career, whether we believe it or not. This is our final hoorah, and it's time for our stars to shine.

From touring your college campus in high school, to move in day, our emotions were all over the place as we tried to find our place in this new environment. When our families said the final "see you later", everything began to sink in. Classes start soon, bringing more emotions into play. We were pushed to our limits by our peers and our professors, creating a sense of pressure like none other. We were socially awkward as we tried to find new friends in our classes, and people to eat with in the cafeteria. We created our schedule as we started to map out our futures and move forward.

Not to mention as the semesters flew by, we grew closer to our peers as well as expanded our knowledge. We grew every day without realizing it, until this final moment. Until it's time to finish our time and walk across the stage for the last time. We should be extremely proud of how far we've come as individuals in such a pressing time in our lives.

There have been bumps along the way, however. Fighting with friends, falling behind in classes, and rethinking your entire college career. There hasn't ever been a time we aren't stressed about something, no matter how minor it may seem. We've struggled to fit in, to stand out, to be ourselves again. But as we finish and take our victory, we should remember everything that brought us to this point.

We should remember how supportive others were in our lives, no matter who they were and what they did for us. We should be thankful for all the rough times when we felt we couldn't push ourselves through, or when we felt we weren't good enough. We were all pushed passed our boundaries, or our comfort zones, but we still all made it here. This point in our lives is something we should be forever grateful for, as we grow and grow each day.

We have changed for the better. We are radiant, resilient, persistent, strong. We are who we are, and we've finally made it. The last stretch of the race is in the horizons, and we are going to be just fine.