The Next Chapter

When we first walked through those doors as freshmen, we thought 4 years sounded like forever. We also thought that we had all the time in the world to find out who we wanted to become. We’ve all encountered rushed mornings, awkward presentations, hallway conversations, and late night studying for a test you completely forgot about, and we’ve all said, “I can’t wait to graduate”. At the time assignment’s felt endless, along with the stress that came with it. Even though these moments felt like forever, it passed faster than we thought. High School wasn’t only about our grades, but rather our growth as we enter our young adulthood. We walked into this building as teenagers who were trying to fit in, but now we walk out as young adults starting their future. We learned how to overcome challenges and how to keep going whenever things seemed difficult.

Something I learned along the way is that people come and go, friendships change, and to do what makes you happy and not what other people want. I learned that it’s important to take care of yourself rather than worrying about what others think about you. I learned that happiness doesn’t come from constantly trying to please everybody. Instead, I learned that real happiness comes from putting yourself first because it’s your life, not someone else’s. Over time, I realized that as we move into the next chapter of our lives, it’s important to remember that life isn’t always about how many accomplishments you’ve made, but rather it’s about making sure that you’re living a life that makes you happy. 

To the Class of 2026, I want to say that we are no longer the same person that we were four years ago. We’ve grown, changed, and struggled, but we survived. So as we step into the next chapter of our lives, pursuing our careers. There were moments we all felt overwhelmed and thought that we would fail. We all thought that graduation would never come, but here we are. We made it. Every late night assignment, every test, and every friendship has helped us grow into the person we are today. Although we may not have all of the answers, but that’s okay. As we step into the next chapter of our lives, there will always be uncertainty. No matter where life take us, I hope we never forget the memories that we’ve made together along the way.

“open book” by sarah_browning is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

“Fake diploma” by gadgetdude is licensed under CC BY 2.0.