I’m writing this a few months early, mostly because I hate saying goodbye in the moment. 

In August of 2016, I and many other people entered our school for the first time as freshmen. In June of 2020, we will leave as adults (most of us anyway). This has truly been an incredible experience for myself as well as for so many other people, but I’m not going to talk about other people. I’m going to talk about my own experience. I came here four years ago, not knowing a single person here. Though I was never one of the “popular kids,” I always felt welcome among the people here; specifically the athletic kids.

When I first came here I was a very different person. I looked different, I sounded different, I walked differently and I acted differently. If some of you had met me four or five years ago, you wouldn’t have recognized me today. I came here as a young boy who was afraid of and strongly disliked change. I leave here as a man, who, while I’m still frightened by the way things are changing, welcomes the challenges that these new changes will bring, because everything that’s happened in the last four years, for better or for worse, made me the man I am today. Although I still have a great number of issues with the man I see in the mirror, I know that for every bit of pain I’ve had to go through, I am stronger for the experience.

I’ve lost a lot in the last four years, but I’ve gained so much. Even though there’s a lot about this place I won’t miss, I’ll miss so many other aspects. I gained and learned so much about my life. It was here that I finally found a way to get over my past. When I look back on who I was before I came here, I don’t recognize him. The person I was four years ago was completely different, and though it’s not completely for the better, I will still appreciate the way that these experiences changed me.

I would now like to thank everyone who’s reading this, and who read Before We Left. The greatest thing for a writer to learn is that someone is reading their work. The fact that there were people who read my work, let alone enjoyed it, is the best thing that has happened to me at this school. 

Looking back on everything that happened in the last four years, I ultimately have no regrets. The way that I’ve grown, I am finally in a place where I can be proud of the person I will leave here as. Though my life will never again be the same, I will always cherish the memories and the friends that I’ve made in the last few years. Though I am young, these have been some of the best years of my life, and I can’t wait to find out what else life has in store for me.