Graduation. It’s talked about everywhere, whether it’s a Kanye West album, a Mac Miller song, a movie series about basketball players who periodically break out into song, or even the event that finally ends those seven-plus season TV shows that probably should have stopped at season three. Regardless of whether you are aware of it or not, the concept of graduation surrounds us, and as June approaches it’s more prevalent as ever to the Class of 2022. 

The reality for me set in during my junior year, when I made the grave mistake of checking off the “Yes, I give permission for my information to be given out to colleges, to assist in the selection process” box on the SAT. And from that day forward, my life has been a live reenactment of the letter scene from “Harry Potter,” with the same ominous opening line of “Dear Julie, we think you would be a great fit for our school and formally invite you to come visit.” An ego booster for sure, but the heartbreaking realization that these letters are complete spam dwelled on me when a letter for an art school telling me I would be a great fit rolled in… meanwhile the last time I took an art class was 7th grade and the extent of my abilities is drawing a stick figure with a couple of lines for hair.  

Graduation has always seemed far away to me, but with the ceremony approaching in a couple of weeks and the reality setting in, I can’t seem to escape it.  The questions I am asked daily, by my older family members, or my neighbors who seem to catch me just before I get from my car into my house is the “Are you ready to graduate?” and “Are you excited?” But truly, the answer is yes.  A new chapter has opened up for me and the rest of Mepham High School’s Class of 2022, and we are ready to explore it.