You've been counting down the days since the beginning of the semester, senioritis is in full effect and you’re having a blast all of senior week. It’s your time to celebrate; you survived high school! It’s time to move onto bigger and better things in your life and you are ecstatic to start your summer.

But now there’s one day left, and it hits you... it’s your last day of high school.

Suddenly, the monotonous cycle of classes you follow each day seems almost comforting, knowing that those classrooms hold the dear familiarity you will treasure in the upcoming months.

You know you’ll see everyone again at graduation, but this is your last day you will wait for the same bells, sit at the same desks and stare at the same clock as the kids you grew up with; the last monotonous routine of a high school class schedule. Throughout your four years, you’ve definitely wondered if you would reach an end to the agony of high school, now you’ve reached it- it’s your last day of senior year.

After graduation you may never see your class again, and that clicks the last few days of school.

Suddenly, long time friend-feuds end, early school nights become late nights out and summers are planned to be ‘the best summer yet,’ because it’s your last summer of childhood in your hometown with your best friends all on the same page.

You realize the teachers of your favorite classes are much more than just a voice to listen to bright and early in the morning, during your last class you realize you admire them. These teachers have watched you grow up, and are so proud to watch you graduate, so you thank them for their care and courtesy of you throughout the years, have them sign your yearbook, and walk out of their classroom for the last time ever.

The thought of leaving your best friends is tumultuous, but you have all summer to say goodbye to them before you part ways in the fall, and the sadness, although looming, isn't really present until August. This is May. The goodbyes that shatter your heart in May are the kids you only see in school, the kids outside of your regular circle. You’ll realize how great these kids are once there’s no time left to spend with them. No more cute smile and wave in the hall, no more slacking off in pre-calculus together, no more casual conversations with people you've known since kindergarten, because you’re done. You’ll finally confess to your crush in their yearbook and sign ‘xo’ with confidence because you will never see them again to feel the embarrassment that contained your honesty for years. There’s a sense of invincibility on the last day of senior year, so make all the confessions you can because this is your last chance.

On your last day you realize that your high school really isn't just a building, it’s not just a high school geared towards exceptional secondary education and outstanding athletics; it’s a community. Your class has become a family, and graduation will be the last time you all stand together, before parting your separate ways. High school is a place to grow, make memories and meet wonderful people that you would never otherwise know and love.

Whether you had a blast in high school or not, we all walk out having learned so much. Academic, social, or personal, we learn and grow so much! The student you are on your first day of freshman year and last day of senior year, no matter who you are, have undergone a whirlwind of transformation. So thank your classmates, teachers and school for sculpting the person you are today, and make them proud of you after you’re gone.