As Homecoming week came to a close, and we took our final bow to High School Musical during the senior lip sync, the reality of the future set in once again.

I have spent my entire life in a bubble never suspecting it to pop. Now, on a brisk October morning, the realization sets in: this is the beginning of the end. 

During this last Homecoming week is when all of these upcoming final moments became present in the front of my mind. Changing with the leaves of this autumn month is my future, a future I have neglected to acknowledge for the past four years. 

As summer subsides into fall, I would usually land back into my old daily habits: drive home, watch Gilmore Girls, and eventually, get to studying late into the night. Unfortunately, my old autumn routine can no longer be present in my daily life. 

I would love to spend all my free time binging Gilmore Girls for the third time and eating the Halloween-themed Pillsbury cookies, but that is no longer in the cards for me. With the future approaching rapidly, and my mind set on cherishing the memorable moments of my senior year, I cannot fathom fitting my old habits into my current routine.

The waning days leading up to my final Homecoming dance seemed insignificant until a shock of realization hit me that this was my last fall season of high school. A year from now, the people I am currently surrounded by will be off in different states, attending different colleges, and there is a high probability that it will be a great sum of time before I am reunited with the people I grew up with.

Every moment of senior year feels so precious—as though I am coming full circle. While I was walking in the Homecoming parade Friday afternoon, something I have done every year, I was soaking up every moment I could, knowing that it was the last time. 

While all of these last times are saddening, I find delight in the little things and know someday I will reminisce on these high school memories.

The beginning of the end approaches unsuspectingly, but it has also been anticipated for the last four years. 

As stressful and time-consuming as the tasks of this year are, it is not uncommon to find pockets of joy within the firsts and lasts of my senior year.

It may seem silly, but as we took that last bow to High School Musical, I had never felt so united as a class. That is the exact moment the shock set in that this moment could never be recreated, and it would stay solid on the list of my core memories.

Perhaps when autumn dissolves into winter, some of these moments won’t feel as surreal as they do now, but until then, I will continue to find the positive within all of these high school traditions as they end.