High school is over.  Looking back over the last 4 years of my life, I realize that I learned a lot, and not just academically. What I have learned in the past 1,460 days, I will take with me for the rest of my life.

Senior year felt like a waiting cell for me. With my future dangling in front of me like a dog bone tied to a treadmill, I wanted to run full speed ahead. But I wasn’t able to. With nowhere to go and so much time left, I became discouraged.

I will be honest with you, senior year was not the year I expected it to be. In fact, it was probably the hardest year of my life. Since I was a freshmen, I had been dreaming of the day when I would be a senior… it looked like so much fun. Now that I am here, and it’s all over, I would say that it was not the time of my life like I thought it would be.

I think that it’s important to realize that as you grow up, reality hits and everything is no longer as magical as it once seemed. My entire junior year and the summer leading into my senior year was something I will never forget. I had never been happier. I learned so much about myself and life in that short time, I cannot put it into words.

The biggest lesson I will take away from high school is that nothing, absolutely nothing, is permanent. No person, no feeling, not even a mindset, is permanent. There is always another day. There’s always another person. There’s always someone who cares. Life moves fast and you just have to keep going- don’t give up and don’t give in.

Reflecting over my time at RHS, I noticed how much I have changed. I am in no way the person I was on day one here, and no one is. We all were impacted in some way over the last four years, maturing into who we now are. I am thankful for that.

I want to thank everyone who has ever impacted me, whether for good or bad. Every smile and every tear got me to this point, and I regret nothing.

I’ve written this column five times now. Every time I’ve written it, I’ve decided it’s too personal to share. All you need to know is that I’m beyond excited to leave the town of Rochester. This will always be my home, but I cannot wait to discover what my life has to offer.