The End.

My last day of school was just such a memorable day. I had gone to sleep super late the night before writing the most grateful 'thank you' card I could write for Mrs. Skeen, Mr. Cole, Tracey, Mr. Dillahunt, and Mr. Butler.
I awoke in the morning got ready and was at school as the same time as usual. The senior class then proceeded to spend the whole morning practicing the walk we would be doing the next day at graduation. Judy(my walking partner) and I were in the very back row for graduation, the row only consisted of about 12 of us, and we talked to all of them people in it, so we spent about the whole time messing around and cracking jokes. As we practiced going up to the stage and receiving our diploma frame, Mr. Gant was standing up front, cuing each student went to walk up. When I got to the front, he looked at me and started laughing. "When you hear your name walk across the stage...and walk and walk and keep walking and don't come back!" he said, laughing. I laughed and gave him a look. We always has gotten along like that.
At the end of what was 3rd period, the rest of the classes came to the gym for the Moving Up assembly. It seemed like just yesterday I was at my first Moving Up and Mr. Lusk was telling us "now remember, you are not sophomores until next year starts. You are still FRESHMAN!"
With that assembly done, the school was released on an extended lunch. I went to find lily so we could give Cole a little gift. (he liked to call people nerds all the time, so we got him a little box of Nerds and wrapped it up.) I gave him his thank you card while I was at it.
Tsadhe, Judy, and I then spent the most interesting lunch ever together. I wanted to deliver the rest of the cards, however I was only able to get ahold of Skeen at the beginning of lunch, so then I had to wait around the whole
Lunch for the rest.
While we waited, tsadhe decided to pick up the cat my neighbor had said she would give her. So we went to get it, and then went to the store to get some cat food, which I had to carry around In my bag. We then went back to school, and sat outside of Butlers portable, waiting for him to show up. After a while, Judy had to leave, so tsadhe and I went into yetter's portable and talked with him for a while. He seemed weirded out that we had a kitten with us. After a few minutes we left, and I figured maybe Butlers class would be in the library, which was why he wasn't in his class. As we walked across school campus, people kept stopping us to look at the kitten. We got to the library a few minutes before lunch ended, so we stood out in the hall waiting for Butler. Finally he showed up.
"Mr. Butler! You are a hard person to locate!" I said.
"I didn't know I was trying to be located," he replied. We chuckled.
"well you didn't think I'd leave without getting you to sign my yearbook, did you!?" I said.
"Oh of course not, how could you!?"
I handed him my yearbook and a pen. "here, hold this" he said handing me this cup of water. As he was writing, a picture Juan had given me of us in DC was slipping out of the yearbook. He grabbed it and handed it to me, and continued writing. He had some sunglasses that he had set on top of his head, and they kept sliding down as he wrote. He took them off and handed them to me. "Sorry, I'm just giving you everything," he said, laughing. As he wrote he asked, "so what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to Boise state..."
"oh very nice!"
"...I'm going for English, actually."
He turned to look at, a small knowing smile on his face. A few weeks before, I had to write a note to a teacher thanking them for something, as an assignment for a class. I chose to write to him, I thanked him for being an awesome teacher and helping me discover how much I loved to write. It's thanks to his class I'm now pursuing an English major. So telling him so was telling him that he had helped me plan my future, and he knew so.
When he finished writing, he handed me my yearbook back, and i gave back his water and glasses, and the thank you card. He wished me luck and said to keep in touch. I promised to come back and visit. Tsadhe kept amazing people with her kitty.
We went to find Dillahunt. Class had started already, but he had mainly senior classes, and since those were over, we wouldn't be interrupting anything. We found him as he was going into his class. We talked for a few minutes, he asked about the cat, and then I have him his thank you card. I went to the office to drop off Tracey's card since she wasn't at school yet. Then I sat in front of the school with tsadhe, while we waited for her parents to pick her up. Then I went home.

I woke up the next morning at around 8:00 am. I got up, put on the dress I had gotten weeks before especially for this day, fixed my hair and makeup, and as I was trying to figure out what jewelry to wear, Judy showed up. I finished up, we grabbed our caps and gowns, got in her car, and left to school. We were checked at the door, to make sure nobody had any silly string or distracting objects(or anything for that matter!) Mrs. Skeen was checking the girls, she thanked me for the card, said it was beautiful and that it was something she would keep. I smiled and proceeded into the gym. Everyone was standing around, some in gowns already, a few teachers standing around taking pictures and having the the last conversation they may ever have with these people. Eventually, everyone was in their cap and gown and they lined us up. The last announcement were made and we started our walk to the football stadium where the ceremony would take place.
The walk was hot, and the dang wedges were hurting the ankle I had twisted a few weeks before. We got the stadium, and walked a bit of the track before they stopped us. The teachers went ahead and lined up on the field in two lines, creating a path in between for us to walk through.
I walked on the right side, with Judy to my left, and we made our way across the field. As we walked between the teachers, I passed many which I'd had in my four years of high school. They smiled, shook my hand, and patted me on the back, congratulating me. And then...at the end of the teacher line was Mr. Butler. He put his hand out, I reached for it, expecting another hand shake. Instead, I was pulled into a hug.
That moment resonates in my head like a million fireworks. If had not been for that moment, I could have gone the whole ceremony without shedding a tear. But it was that moment that made me see what I was really leaving behind: a group of people, grown ups, who had accepted and appreciated me for who I was. I was leaving behind the teachers to had inspired me. And that broke my heart. I started crying as I walked away from Mr. Butler.
It didn't last long because Judy was freaking out about me crying(she's the kind of person that always cries if she sees someone else crying) and it made me laugh.
We got to our spot in the back row and spent a majority of the ceremony just messing around with tsadhe, Mateo, zuleima, and Cody. Until finally we got to the walking part. We went up row by row, so we were towards the end. Eventually it got to us, so we went up one by one, Mr. Gant saying to each one at the stage steps "when you hear your name walk across." When I finally got the the stage steps, Gant looked at me and chuckled.
"When you hear your name walk across the stage...JUST walk."
"Ok, I'll try not to trip!" I said.
"Oh god, please don't!" he said, laughing.
I heard my name, and walked across, shaking the school boards' hands and recieving my diploma frame. Then I got to Mr. Lusk, the principle, and he turned to take the traditional 'principle/grad' picture, and then turned to me and said "good job, kiddo!" with a kind smile. He had been a great person to work with in the office.
I walked off the stage, and Judy and I walked back to our seats. They finished off the ceremony with the switching of the tassel and our caps being thrown in the air. During this, Gant was putting out the boxes of silly string they provided at each graduation so we can go crazy for one last time. He was putting them out just a few feet away from where Judy and I were.
"Can we grab them now!?" Judy asked. You could see it was the question on everyone's mind.
"Who cares!?" I said and ran for them. Everyone followed behind me. And we went crazy.
Family and friends made their way down to the field, and I was ambushed by balloons and flowers and hugs and pictures.


"Tonight, we are young.
So let's set the world on fire.
We can burn brighter
than the sun."
-Fun. (Graduation Song)

Stalling as always. :P

Well this is yet another late post! IM GRADUATED!!! yay! Lol. I meant to write about my graduation waaaay back on the weekend it actually happened, but I kept slacking. But, like I always says, better late than never. :)
So the last week of school for me was extremely bittersweet. I got my acceptance letter to Boise State University! And as I looked at it, and thought about it, I decided to do it. I didn't even apply to the Musicians Institute, however I don't regret it. I believe that if I have the talent, passion, and will, I can make it to a music life without the need to go to a music school. I can do this if I want it, and if God is willing. So BSU it is, and I am happy with my choice of staying close to the church life and pursuing an English major. However, as great as I felt with my acceptance to BSU, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I was leaving behind the school life I had come to love here in Prosser. The people, friends, and teachers I had gotten along with, and the memories I had created. It sadden me to leave them.
The choir class was asked to sing at baccalaureate. Once, while we practiced Journey In Peace, which was the song we would perform, the underclass men were looking around looking at the seniors in class, knowing we had only a few days. They all had looks of sadness. Our choir class had come to be very close, so our departure was sad for all of us. But as we sang, I saw Gena, Matie, Teryn, and the loving altos I had sang with all year looking at me, it was too much. I ran out of class, and cried in the hallway. Tracy(Mrs. Boyle) understood, of course. She's always been an awesome teacher. So she let me be, and let me have my moment. Surprisingly, this was the only breakdown I had while in school. Although I was almost sure it would have been Dillahunts class in which it would have happened.
The office was sad to leave too. Jessica, the junior office aid who had worked in the office with me all year, had become such a fun friend. We had a lot of laughs while in the office, I didn't think I'd get so close to her. And of course, the office staff! those people made the period oh so unforgettable. It was a bit heartbreaking to find out Mr. Gant would be leaving PHS. he was always fun to have around in the office. leadership was surprisingly not so emotional. But i think it's because Mrs. Skeen kept us busy til the last minute. Even still, as I wrote a 'thank you' card to Skeen the night before the last day, I couldn't help but feel terribly sad to leave the class.
Of course, Dillahunts was horribly heartbreaking to leave! The last day in class he made notes for all of us, and gave them to us as he signed our sign out sheets. When I received mine, I read it and instantly wanted to cry. Leaving behind him and his class was the hardest for me, and the note didn't help. But Judy, and other friends were around, and I didn't want to cry around them. Plus, they kept messing around and joking, so i was able to keep distracted. Still, it hurt.
And then there's Cole's class. I admit I was glad to finally not have to run and do all the workouts, however, this was just as hard to leave behind. Cole had been around since freshman year, and we got along soooo well! He was just one of those teachers that wasn't like a teacher to me...we joked, and laugh, and picked on each other. Any time we talked, it was hardly school/grade related. We just conversed. He was like a 'pal' I guess you could say. I know that sounds weird to say about a teacher, but it's true.
And then, there was just all those other teachers and staff that I didn't have this year but I had known and gotten along with all along. It was just so sad to leave them. But at the same time I couldn't help think that in a few months I would be gone and starting over and just being free!
Now, I know I haven't talked about graduation yet, but as I was writing this, I decided to put this into two different posts. The last week is a completely different experience and memory than my last day and graduation. that will go into the next post. So read on...