Moving on: Graduation brings brighter future

By K.C. McConnell, News Editor

“This too shall pass.”

I heard this advice a few times throughout my life, usually from my mother or my father or another adult that had far more wisdom than I did. The advice held true during tough times and through my tears, my anxieties and my fears. Time healed my wounds, and the clock turned forward, leaving the bad memories powerless. Everything ended.

It wasn’t until after my senior year flew by that I realized this advice applied to the good times as well as the bad.

As a freshman, Conestoga seemed to have hallways that expanded endlessly onward. Now I am starting to feel a bit cramped. It may not be a tragedy of apocalyptic grandeur foretold by ancient Mayans, but it is clear: the end is near. I am graduating.

I imagine that many of my fellow seniors are feeling the same melancholy mix of nostalgia and longing for a past that is still so close behind us. It seems like just yesterday we were only kids and the future seemed more like fantasy than anything else.

It is easy to be afraid. I can’t tell you that a kind world awaits you outside of Conestoga’s familiar glass doors, and neither can anybody else.

In a way, the naïveté fostered in some of us from the four years we spent inside these nurturing walls is both a blessing and a curse. Unfortunately, the world outside of our school does not run on ’Stoga time, and most of your college professors are probably unaware that you’ re accustomed to “’ Stoga deadlines.”

Even those who are not graduating face striking changes. Juniors will need to start preparing for college applications, and current sophomores and freshmen can look forward to more rigorous school schedules and even more homework. Time is ticking forward for all of us, forcing us to leave some things behind. Yet this is not the final sunset.

Life does go on. Looking ahead, the future is bright, despite what worries and doubts may currently cloud our foresight.

The past is behind us, and yes, high school has become our past. We cannot keep looking in the rearview mirror. In order to remain strong in the face of uncertainty, we must keep our eyes on the horizon. In other words, we must accept that high school is over.

I’ m not saying that we should forget the past. I don’t believe that it is wise or even possible to wipe our memory clean of the last four years and all of the joy and pain they have brought us. However, it’s never good to hold onto things that have already passed us by.

Instead of feeling lost and confused about our future, we should be looking forward to things yet to come. Think that in just four short months, we will be moving into our own dorm rooms and meeting an entirely new group of classmates.

Many of us will be living without our parents for the first time ever. Even those who are soon coming back to ’Stoga will be facing big changes—new classes and teachers will bring another set of challenges.

All of these things may sound daunting now, but we must realize that they are for the better. As scary as it may sound, now is the time to sink or swim.

To stay afloat, we need to let go of the unnecessary baggage. Make amends with your old friends and accept that it may be time to say goodbye. Prepare to leave Conestoga behind by understanding that what is done is done—there’s no time for going back. Now is not the time for regrets.

College is one of life’s only opportunities to start with a clean slate. It’ll be a bit scary, a lot of fun and completely different than anything we’ ve ever experienced before.

If we can let go of our high school baggage, we’ll be able to enjoy college to its fullest and take in all that the future has to offer. And even if things are a bit hard at first, remember: that too shall pass.

K.C. McConnell can be reached at kmcconnell@stoganews.com.