By: Quinton Wong

With very few days of school left, I have found myself in a natural time of reflection.  Soon I will be leaving behind everything that has become so familiar over the past four years.  All of my friends, eager to talk to one another.  All of my teachers watching over their students.  And all of the classrooms and hallways that have acted as a second home for the past four years are about to become a part of my past.

We can experience a wide range of emotions as we prepare to embrace this change in our lives, one of which might be sadness.  Not the kind of sadness that will make you hold up in your room all day hiding under the sheets of your bed, but the kind of sadness that shows you that you don’t quite feel ready to move on.  We’re comfortable with the way our lives are and the routines we’ve created.  We know that there are people and places that we will miss, and leaving all of that behind can be unsettling.

Of course, accompanying this sadness might also be a little bit of fear.  Here we are about to embark on a journey where we have to leave so many comforts behind and venture into an unknown world.  A world where our parents, no matter how annoying they may be or how much we can’t wait to get away from them, have always been there for us whenever we needed them.  We will no longer have them to turn to for guidance or help, nor will we have our friends who have been by our sides for years.  This careful support system that we have developed for our whole lives may now reside cities, states, or even countries away.  Not only has our support system been left behind, we are no longer the oldest and most experienced in our community.  As seniors, it felt like the school was ours.  We had roamed the halls for years and knew the ins and outs of Westborough High better than anyone.  But as freshmen, we will have to learn everything all over again.  We will need to learn new rules and new traditions, new streets and buildings.  I think it is only natural that all of this creates a little bit of fear.

However, the sadness and fear we may be feeling should not hold us back.  There is so much to look forward to and so much to be excited about.  For every friend we leave behind there is another waiting for us at our new schools.  For every memory we look back on with nostalgia we can look forward to a new one with a sense of eagerness and adventure. It is time for us to become independent and go out into the world to learn, discover, experience, and grow.

I encourage everyone to take time to embrace each of these emotions.  Before heading off in different directions we should go out with friends, visit all the local places we love, and spend time with our families.  But we should also prepare ourselves to move on and look forward to all of the opportunities ahead of us.