Now that my time at Rochester High is over, I feel sad. I know this sounds cheesy, but I feel as if an old friend is about to die and leave me forever. I’m not sure why— maybe it’s the fact that the sense of educational security will soon be replaced by the uncertainties of college or the fact that I’ve spent nearly eight hours a day at Rochester High for the past four years.  Either way, the people in the senior class will soon cease to be students here. It is because of this that I feel I need to take a look back on the past four years.

The night before my first day of high school, I couldn’t sleep. I remember staring at my alarm clock waiting as the hours ticked down. I’m not sure whether this was out of fear of the unknown, nervousness or excitement, but I do know that I didn’t get a minute of sleep because of it. When it was finally time to get up for school, my alarm clock read 5 a.m. because I had marching band. Let’s just say that was the only time I was actually enthusiastic to go out in the cold and play music. This isn’t to say that I do not enjoy marching band, I just hate practicing and getting up a 5 a.m.

Flash forward to the next year, when I entered AP US History, which I consider to be the only hard non-math class I have ever taken. That was an experience which I remember fondly, especially the Civil War game that lasted a week and ended in disaster. Even though the “war” ended with both sides being “defeated,” I found it quite enjoyable to ambush Confederate “soldiers” and bombard them with questions. I also remember that sophomore year was when I began working as an intern at city hall. My experience there really helped me focus on what I want to do in life: politics. This column isn’t about what I want to do, though, but what I have done.

Junior year I joined the Talon, which obviously is Rochester High’s student newspaper. In Talon I learned many things, like that InDesign and Photoshop are literally the hardest programs to use ever. One time I even broke a chair as I leaned back. In that moment I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but I did know that it was super embarrassing. The rest of junior year was totally uneventful, so I’m going to  skip that.

So now we have reached senior year, which, let me tell you, was the longest year-long slog I could imagine. I mean, seriously. Teachers continued to assign homework and even put grades in the book. Come on, we’re seniors, not juniors— give us a break. Additionally, my senior year saw me completely forget at least half of my classmates names, and butcher the other half. So now that senior year is over, I feel like a chapter in my life is over, but I am prepared for the next one more than ever.