High School

Today was like any other school day. It was the last period and I was running a pass to pull a member of my newspaper staff from class so I could discuss her latest article edits. I was the only person in the commons of the school, and the wide, empty space seemed so much larger than it normally did. And quieter. So much quieter. The only sound was my own footsteps. The sunlight was streaming through the skylights in the high ceilings and it made the place look beautiful. Almost ethereal. I looked around at the hand drawn posters announcing yearbook sales and Homecoming dances and an overwhelming sense of contentment washed over me. It was almost startling how happy I felt in that moment. I love this place. I love the friends I've met here, the teachers I've learned from, and the experiences I've had. I love this place and I'm about to leave.

There isn't a day goes by that I don't complain about some aspect of high school. No day where I'm not "completely over it" or "so ready to get out of this place." At least not until today.

As I slowed my steps, wanting to savor the moment for as long as possible, I realized how I hadn't said any of those things today.

Not during my Statistics class, not when I had to take a pop quiz I knew no answers for in my Econ class, not when half of my debate team forgot their t-shirt money, not even when I stayed two extra hours after school to help the yearbook meet their deadlines.

I had a really good day. And it won't be long before those kind of days - where I am so accustomed to being busy it's not even considered "busy" anymore, where I'm needed to answer a million different questions from my staff and my team, where I'm asked to do things that are in no way my responsibility - are nonexistent. It won't be long before the easy, practiced days of being a student at CHS are over.

And today I realized just how much I'm going to miss it. Boy, am I going to miss this place.