It’s a strange feeling knowing you accomplished all your goals. It’s hard to move forward and move on when you don’t have anything to work towards anymore. It’s unsettling to know that this will be the final story published under my name, that if anyone ever ventures to my staff profile in the next couple years,this will be the first thing they see. 

I have grown so much through this class, the friendships I’ve made within its walls, and the stories I’ve written. It’s hard for me to comprehend that this version of me is the final version The Central Trend is ever going to see. 

Despite the fact I have poured my heart and soul into this classroom and the roles I’ve played  within it, in a few short days, my presence will no longer exist here. This final goodbye, this concluding article, my last time pressing publish, it all just stops. 

The overwhelming thoughts, the hours spent contemplating what is and isn’t too personal to publish, the late nights transcribing interviews, the early mornings selling donuts, all the things that led to me becoming an editor are coming to an abrupt end. 

For months, I have been writing columns just like this one, praying for high school’s quick finish. I counted down the weeks until spring break, the days until prom, the minutes until the last day of school, and the seconds until graduation. 

For months, I’ve been ready. I handed out goodbyes as if they were expendable, and I felt relieved by the thought of leaving this place behind. 

And while that same sense of relief still lingers in my thoughts—in my final week at FHC—I have found that an overwhelming sense of “until” seems to have taken over. 

Somehow, in the most cliche way possible, the end snuck up on me. Every moment for the past four years has led me here; every mistake, every lesson, every breakdown, every stupid tear, and hysterical laugh, all represent a memory on the timeline of events that have brought me to graduation. 

It’s a strange feeling knowing you accomplished all your goals. It’s hard to comprehend that after everything was said and done, all your tears, and all your articles, can all be summed up into a name on a wall amongst a sea of other editors that came before you. 

But if my presence at FHC has to be boiled down to just one thing, I am so incredibly proud to have it be my name on that wall.