My Farewell to Senior Year

         I know everyone and their mom is gonna write their last blog about this, but I just couldn't resist...

         It's here.  Finally here!  I've been counting down the days to when I can finally leave high school and call myself a college student.  But, now that it's here, I'm kind of sad.  Maybe not sad, but nostalgic, trying desperately to cling to the last of my adolescence.  It's a mixture of joy, sadness, anxiety, and fear.  What does this mean?  I'm going to be leaving a scheduled and routine life where I go to school for 6 hours a day, go home and do homework, maybe hang out with a friend, then sleep and do it all over again the next day.  While I look forward to living on my own and setting my own schedule, I think part of me might miss this.  I was in 4th period the other day reading an article in the Grizzly Gazette that Geena wrote; it was her farewell letter to newspaper.  I cried.  In the middle of the class I T.A. for.  The sudden realization hit me hard... my whole life is changing! 
          Still, that is not the overwhelming feeling I have.  I'm mostly excited to spend a summer with the people I love, then go to college and establish my independence (or at least that's that I'd like to call it, considering i couldn't exactly pay for college without my parents).  I'm attending the college of my dreams, and my best friend is gonna be there with me.  I honestly couldn't ask for more.  I just realized i've been somewhat ranting - this blog was supposed to be me making my own little version of Geena's farewell article in the paper, acknowledging those that I will soon be leaving behind... so here goes.

-First and foremost, I have to say thank you to my wonderful parents, who pushed me to be the very best that i can possibly be.  They never stopped encouraging me, always believing that I had the capabilities to excel at whatever I tried.  They are also helping to make my aspirations a reality - they're paying for college!  Though I often take their unconditional love for granted, as I sit here and think about it I am so truly thankful for them.  And, though I'm not completely leaving them behind, their presence in my life will no doubt lessen.  So, thanks mom and dad.  You're the best.
-I also want to say thank you to the teachers that sculpted and enriched my learning experience.  Without them, I wouldn't be at the place I am now.  Not only did they give me the knowledge of their specific subject, but each one taught me a little about myself as both a student and a person. 
-I suppose I want to say goodbye to the campus in general.  I spent a good part of the last four years of my life there, after all.  It was a place that nurtured me as I progressed through high school, making new friends and experiencing a myriad of new things. 
-Last, and most certainly not least, my beautiful, amazing, supportive friends.  You guys are my everything and there is absolutely no way I could have made it through the last four years without you!  Thank you for letting me complain to you, laugh with you, eat all the food in your house, etc, etc.  Words can't express my love and graitiude for each and every one of you.  I know high school isn't the end, but our paths will inevitably cross a whole lot less. 

So, there it is.  High school is over, and soon a new chapter of my life will start.  While I look back on my years at Los Osos with nostalgia and a twinge of sadness, I look forward to the life ahead of me with unbridled excitement.  This is only the beginning!


--- Dayna