It’s the one day students dream about beginning their freshman year, senior check-out day--the final day of high school, the final day of classes, and probably the final day of being together with your friends before graduation. For some it seemed that this day would never come fast enough and for others, like me, it is one of the saddest days we seniors could go through.
As freshmen, it seems like we have all the time in the world. They say it goes by fast, but we never believe them until now with just a few weeks left of dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning, of teachers hassling us, of being together with our friends at lunch time, of walking down these halls and most importantly, of time left to leave our imprint on CVHS forever. So how will we spend our final days at CVHS?
“With my last few weeks, I will try to have fun with my friends and do all I can to make my last days the best ones because you only go to high school once.”, says senior Laura Alcocer.
“With my last few weeks at CVHS, I plan to keep my grades up and not mess up. I’m so close to graduating, but I still need to make sure my grades stay where they are.”, said senior Henry Garcia.
We all feel this rush of emotions as graduation comes closer, probably even more emotion than we felt when we first walked through the halls of CV as freshmen. We are ending one chapter in our lives and starting another life filled with uncertainties, but how did we get here? With the help, love and support of our teachers, parents and friends. Without them and their support, graduating would never be possible. Who do you have to thank and how do we say goodbye to the people who have impacted our lives so much?
“I want to thank all of the people that have tolerated me during my nervous breakdowns (Mr. Reinhagen, Mr. Castillo, Mr. Henry, my coaches Dawson, Sleeper, and Greene, Tania Marin, Maribel Pimentel, Alex Franco, Cheris De Leon, etc.) and made me work and suffer to become the strong person that I am today,” says senior Laura Braithwaite.
“Thank you to all my friends and teachers for being a part of my life and being there for me; I appreciate it,” says senior Jose Frias.
As the end comes near, we all look back and see what made us who we are in high school. For myself and my fellow VAPA seniors, performing and expressing ourselves through our art made us who we are. For others, it’s academics, sports or leadership. “I think I left my mark by playing sports and being one of the few white guys on campus,” says senior Travis Anderson.
“Well I have left my mark at CV by studying and making sure that I was taking the right classes. All my teachers and friends know my yearning to learn. I will be remembered as the girl who always did her homework,” says senior Maribel Jaquez.
“Basically people know me as an artistic person. I’m creative, so I guess my mark at CV would be my art,” says senior Tania Ramirez.
My fellow senior classmates, it is now our time to say goodbye, to have one last laugh together, and to shine on our graduation day, the day we have been waiting for since our very first day here at CV. Can you believe we finally did it? Check out day is right around the corner, are you ready? Are you scared or excited?
“I’m both excited and sad because I don’t know what lies ahead for me, and I’m sad because I’m leaving my friends behind,” says senior Oscar Anaya.
“I’m happy that I’m going to the next step in life, but sad because I’m not going to see or spend time with my friends and my close teachers as much,” says senior Alvaro Melendrez.
To you, my classmates and my closest friends, I say goodbye and good luck. Always remember where you came from and the people who helped get you there. Chase your wildest dreams and never let them go.
I leave you with the song we always sing in chorus class that reminds me of my senior class, the class of 2008, every time we sing it.
“I’m so glad we had this time together, just to have a laugh or sing a song. Seems we just get started and before you know it comes the time we have to say, ‘So long.’” Congratulations Class of 2008, we did it!