I honestly never thought that this time would come, the time when my fellow classmates and I would be preparing to graduate from high school and move on to the future.

A significant portion of our senior class has been together since kindergarten, when we were proudly sporting purple and grey Danny the Hippo t-shirts and sweats.  Soon after that we were all representing T.J. the Tiger where my best memories come from being a bus patrol and going to ASAP (After-School Activities Program) to run around and play games like “Blind Man’s Bluff” with all of my friends.  Then, we were on to middle school, that awkward stage in life when all the girls are taller than the boys and the boys have squeaky voices.  Those years were marked by the middle school dances held at the community center on Saturday nights and tons of all-girl sleepovers when we made up dances to our favorite songs, played pranks on those who fell asleep first, and giggled the entire time.  Finally, we all entered high school, where the drama is non-stop and the workload and classes are tough. 

High school has been like one big roller coaster ride.  With schoolwork, relationships, friendships, gossip, and temptation, it seemed almost impossible to reach that feeling of simplicity and pure joy once experienced not-so-long ago.  Looking at the seniors, envying them; their maturity, their beauty, their intelligence, their freedom. I never thought I’d get there.  I always felt like I’d be young, gawky, and immature for life.

When the summer of 2006 rolled around, things completely changed.  All of a sudden, SATs, ACTS, and college choices became mine, and many others’ number one priority.  My entire senior year has been dedicated so much to planning my future that I completely got lost in the “now.”

Graduation has never felt so close, and it hasn’t really hit me that I will be walking down that stage, dressed in a white cap and gown, to receive my high school diploma and move my tassel from one side to the other, in only a mere couple of weeks.  All of the senior activities, including senior prom, are only days away, and the sooner these activities arrive and pass, the sooner my “future” will become the “present”. 

It’s so funny to think that after an entire year of anticipating finally leaving high school, that I have almost forgotten about what I will be leaving behind.  In my case, I will be attending the University of Redlands in the city of Redlands, California, 3,000 miles away from all that is familiar to me.  My parents, my friends, my dog, my house, the comfort of my own bed, Falls Church, Tyson’s Corner, D.C., are among millions of things I will be missing terribly when I leave for school.  This year has been so crazy, that I completely forgot to cherish the things I won’t be able to hold on to forever.

Someone once told me that when you’re truly ready to head off to college, you will know that you’re ready.  I disagree.  I think that no one is ever ready to go.  From my experience thus far, I have found that every other day is another up or down on the wild rollercoaster ride we call high school.  On the days the rollercoaster seems to be plummeting me to the hard cement floor, I think that I am ready and all I want to do is to get as far away from this place as possible.  But then, there are those other days when the rollercoaster is skyrocketing me high into the sky, and I can’t bear the thought of leaving.  From this, I have gathered that, ready or not, we will all be leaving the nest at one point or another.  But leaving the nest does not mean you should forget or put away these first 18 or so years of our lives.  Like all nests, Falls Church is marked by so many people and memories that I couldn’t possibly forget, and those will be carried with me for as long as I live.  When the time comes to leave the nest, I will be forced to remember all that I have learned from this chapter of my life, and use it to prepare myself for the next chapter.