I sit and write this with tears in my eyes, and countless memories in my heart. 

Senior year comes with a rollercoaster of emotions: excitement for the future, frustration with the seemingly never-ending schoolwork, pieces of me that count down the days to leave yet pieces of me that never want to say goodbye. I’ve been accepted into my dream college, found an amazing roommate and started filling out my course planning forms. The future is so bright, yet part of me clings to my past. It’s truly puzzling. How do you say goodbye to the home you have created over the course of the past four years and step into something entirely unknown and different? When are you truly ready for such a change?

Those who know me know that my freshman year was anything but easy. I timidly made the transition from private to public school, and I knew only a handful of people. I clearly remember sitting in the counselor’s office one July afternoon with my mom. I listened to the counselor walk me through the core classes and the freshman requirements. I had no knowledge or background of anything I was signing up for, as I had not been in the CISD school system since the third grade. I was told I would be too overwhelmed with more than two honors classes, that the required Business Information Management class was already too full and that I had two spaces in my schedule to fill and a list of entirely unknown courses to choose from. After recognizing the journalism adviser’s name, my mom’s friend, I signed up, having no clue what the course would even be about, just grateful one of the spots was filled. 

Everyone has their place in high school. Everyone finds a passion, whether it be playing a sport or acting on a stage. From day one, I found my home-away-from-home. When I would walk my friends into room 1305, I would declare, “this is my school home; this is my happy place.”

To say everything was happy from that point on would be leaving out much of the story. Like everyone’s high school career, there were trials. There were hard days, there were tears and there were days I wanted to quit. Yet every day, I walked into room 1305, and I led a publication I felt proud of. I’ve received awards and medals and had my work published online and in the Canyon News, yet I’ve also received confidence, leadership skills and the sense of knowing myself.

Over the past four years, I have worked with two different advisers. Each of them I greatly admire, and each of them taught me extremely valuable lessons about myself and the person I will become. Some teachers have a way of truly touching students’ lives, and those are the ones that will never be forgotten. We walk out of the school, but we carry with us the information and advice given to us by the teachers who have loved and cared for us.

On May 27, my fellow classmates and I will walk across the stage, symbolizing the closing of the many doors we’ve walked through in the past four years. Some we will miss more than others, but each of them will have had an impact on our lives. We walk across the stage with people we may never see again, and mere memories of our journey. The future is now ours, which can be incredibly daunting and exciting at the same time.

Goodbye, room 1305. Thanks for being my safe space and my school home, housing many memories I will treasure. As for Canyon High School, thank you for preparing me for my future in a way no other school or education could have. 

Although I must say goodbye to my dearest publication, The Eagle’s Tale, I am sure it will be in wonderful hands. Please continue to follow along and read our stories, which will pick back up next year.