This is the end. For about 900 of you, it is the end of just another year of high school, with 1-3 years to go. You’ll say goodbye to your teachers in June, and say hello to them again in September. You’ll say “goodbye” to your friends, and hang out with your closest ones the next day.

For the remaining 300 of us, known as seniors, it is truly the end of high school. We’ll say goodbye to our teachers in June, and, perhaps, see them again a few times in our lives. We’ll say goodbye to our friends, hang out with a few of them over the summer, and never see the others again, except for reunions and occasional get-togethers. But, it will never be the same, for better and for worse.

This is the beginning. For the underclassmen, the summer represents a span of time to work, hang out, conduct research, and start applying to colleges. Some of you will start to envision your future, and take charge of making it a reality. Some of you will explore new interests, get a broader perspective on life and become confused, which is totally fine and a natural part of finding your identity.

For my fellow seniors, as you all have heard, this marks the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. We are going from high school students, at least somewhat dependent on our parents for food, laundry, home maintenance and support, to independent college students, with many of us going somewhere that will seem foreign to us, even if we feel at home there. Nearly every facet of our lives will be in our control, from studying to sleeping to socializing, giving us an overwhelming sense of freedom, for better and for worse.

To my fellow underclassmen, focus on your school work. I cannot guarantee that it will place you in the school of your dreams, as effort does not equal immediate success. However, it will allow you to gain a deeper understanding of the material, and to contemplate if you would like to continue learning about these given subjects in the future. Excelling in school will allow you to take harder classes that you will get credit for in college (sometimes), so that you can skip right to the interesting courses in college. Additionally, take advantage of the wide range of extracurricular activities available to you, and of volunteer opportunities as they are enriching experiences that will simultaneously mold you and help others. Once you find the right balance, it will make your high school life much smoother and hopefully carry through into college.

To my fellow seniors, go forth and conquer. We’ve all successfully completed high school, and will succeed in whatever we do in the future, whether that be through college, trade school, the armed forces or directly into the workforce. With all of our knowledge and experiences gained through school, through our friends and family, and through our intuition, we have been constantly preparing ourselves for this moment, and are ready to seize it.

To everyone in Mepham, enjoy these last few days of the 2018-2019 school year. We all have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming summer and fall, so let’s savor these last moments of the current school year, and brace ourselves for the simultaneously frightening and exciting year to come.