Growing up is something that a child tends to want to do as fast as possible, until they are actually grown up. Dr. Seuss said, “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” Therefore, graduation is usually a time to reflect on our lives from early childhood to our senior year. 

Some people may remember the first time they stepped into their preschool or kindergarten classroom. At this time in our lives, we also did not know how to take care of ourselves or navigate our life. Our families have always been there to help us along the way when we needed guidance. As a child, we were free to imagine and play all day as we slowly processed how to live our life. Elementary school was a time where we got to be kids, but while learning the basics. In Sixth grade we got the opportunity to learn more about the real world and the history behind it. Flash forward to our eighth grade year, we took a class called CCR (College and Career Readiness). One of the biggest lessons that we learned in CCR was the importance of time. Time is of the essence and can not be given back, because once it is gone, it is gone. 

Now in a month, we will disperse from what we have known all of our lives. We are going to be starting a new chapter and will either be leaving for college, taking a gap year or going into the workforce. Looking back at our freshman year of high school, the majority of us were nervous or even excited. Flash forward to our senior year, many people may be feeling the same way. Nervous to leave home, start a new job or even excited to turn a new leaf. All of which are big steps in our lives as we are going to be doing something that we have never done before.  

The time we have been waiting for our whole lives is coming faster than we think, graduation. This is a time for reflection as we are going to need to learn how to manage and navigate through our lives, on our own. Graduation is a time that people can try new things, meet new people or even find a new passion. Growing up is something that some of us wish we never did, as we let life take its course and things started to progressively get harder.

For our classmates that are going to college away from home, navigating life may be hard for a while as we will not be able to receive help from the people that have helped us all our lives. But, for our classmates who are going into the workforce or taking a gap year, enjoy that extra time you are granted to receive help navigating through life. Although we will always have someone in our corner to help us when we need it, it is good for us to branch out and find new pathways as we move into this new chapter.