Is it that time already?!

It began as simply an idea, then festered into an idea, and now becomes more and more like reality every day. As we pick ourselves up and brush the dirt off our shoulders after just being hit by a truck, we think: Where has the time gone? Believe it or not, graduation is upon us, the light is beginning to appear at the end of this tunnel. Seems like just a minute ago (literally, not figuratively, or even metaphorically), it was the first day of high school, and I was terrified of the unknown and endless possibilities. The first day of senior year, we knew it would come, I just had no idea it would come this fast, even when warned. It wasn’t until I was sitting in Mr. Burge’s on a Friday morning, trying to stay awake, that I realized the time is now. Now, I have spent the week writing and rewriting a speech, confounded every step of the way. It seems almost impossible to talk about a place that has given you everything, and the future, and condense into a less than two minute speech. This speech has most likely gotten us all thinking about the future, that unknown, whether we are ready for. Different answers are given of whether or not we are ready, but everyone is terrified of the future, if they say they’re not then they’re probably crazy or lying. How could you not be though? When you go to a place that has had such a huge influence on who we have become as people, it’s only natural. But because of the nature of our personalities, as AACT and our own virtue, we will strive on and succeed nonetheless.

Graduation speech working draft

     “Hello, I’m Mr. Rossi and I am from the Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology.” 15 simple words that were meaningless to nearly all, but to us, these words started a journey, to applying, the interview and finally being accepted into the academy. Four years ago, we began a journey in an unproven system, and look, we proved it. Through four years, we all formed our own little cliques and made unforgettable memories, but we still remained close nonetheless, through the culture of our school. Everyone knows that nobody cares about my opinion Mrs. Mahr, but please, let me finish. Life happens, hits us all at the most unexpected times, but academics and striving to achieve stood together as the priority. Through this, a unique tradition and culture was established at AACT; class of 2013 worked their tails off, handed the reins to us, and once again we are one of the only five star schools in the district, pretty impressive for the terrified group of kids that walked through those doors nearly four years ago. That’s the thing with this group though, not only do we go above general expectations, we have done so with consistency, whether it be in Moonbuggy, CTSO’s, or being a National Merit Scholar semi-finalist, this group really has done it all.

     Four years ago, we walked through those front doors and made a commitment to graduate, and now our commitment comes to light. Through all the tough times, the late nights spent wishing that we didn’t wait until the last minute to start Mr. Burge’s assignment (just kidding), loss of sleep, cursing ourselves for taking so many AP classes,  all of our work the past four years has led up to this moment, our moment. That moment we’ve heard about, dreaded, thought would never come, that time, that moment, is now. I don’t think any senior realized this until that day, sitting in Mr. Burge’s class, as he told us that next year, AACT is no longer for us, which made many break down on the spot. It is true, about four years ago we made this school our home, even helped build the foundation and credibility for future generations, but now we are graduating; now, we all have our own paths that we plan to go down, and eventually we will all go our separate ways. How do we know how it’s going to turn out though? We don’t, but success is guaranteed in all our futures; simply because we have already proven it. Unlike most high school students, we took a leap of faith, just as we will in all our life choices, and have broken the standard and continue to set a new one each day. This is your moment Class of 2014, go prove it is.

Poetry. Oh Poetry.

For about three out of the six months we’ve been in school, it seems, I have sat in English and listened to Mr. Burge plead that he in no way wants us to hates poetry. And nearly each of these days I have gone home, looked at the homework, and thought about it something along the lines of hate, but it’s not. It’s kind of like that crazy uncle everyone has, who always shows up to dinner, nobody is quite sure how he is family, and yet there is still a glimmer of hope, even if it comes very seldom. So there I am, around eleven o’ clock, half way done with the assignment, when I come across “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson. I remember what my teacher said about how it is almost impossible to understand Emily unless you have a PHD in Emily, so I prepare to struggle through it just enough to write some answers down that are close to right. I reach the end, ready for the black hole that usually hits my brain when I read one of these things, then I have to reread 100 times, but it doesn’t come. Could this be; could I actually understand this? I actually do, and I’m sure you all can the elation that filled my person. I guess it really does work with everything: if you work on something for long enough, eventually it will make sense. Yes, even Emily Dickinson.