Today. Is. Our. Day.

Song of The Day: Under The Lights by Cassio Monroe (Graduation Version)

It's been a long road, you guys. It has been a beautiful and not so beautiful thirteen years, but you know what? We made it! This is our day, the day that we have worked so hard towards all of our life. As we part and go our separate ways, remember to cherish every moment from our journey. Whether the memories are good or bad, they have shaped us somehow. They have led us to where we are today. Do not think of graduating as a way to get away from this tiny town or from the people that have drove us crazy over the years, think of it as something you can check off from a long list of things you want to accomplish in life. I am going to miss this, all of this: the hallways, the yearbook room, my favorite teachers, the horrible cafeteria food, and my friends. Someone told me that we are only friends with the people we are close to in high school because we see them seven hours for five days out of the week. I hope that is not true. That is the scariest part about graduating--not seeing your friends as much. I remember my blog posts from earlier in the school year. I was crying and stressed about finding out who my real friends are. Now that I have found them, I am afraid to let go. This year, I have become friends with people I said I hate because others said they weren't cool enough. I think that I have grown mentally and emotionally. I no longer care what people think of me because I am friends with a certain person. I am my own person, and I am smiling right now because I know that this is true. Tonight, as we walk across that stage at Windsor High School, I want you all to know this it has been an absolute pleasure being able to spend some of the best days of my life with all of you. Believe it or not, each and every one of you in the class of 2014 has said or done something that I will remember. Believe that. I know today will be full of tears of joy and laughter. I am just so proud of each and every one of us. This will be a night to remember. Now, today would not just be right if I didn't end this sappy post with one of my favorite quotations that I have been waiting to use for the past five years. It fits perfectly.

“Today’s the day my life begins. Today I become a citizen of the world. Today I become a grown up. Today I become accountable to someone other than myself and my parents. Accountable for more than my grades. Today, I become accountable to the world. To the future. To all the possibilities that life has to offer. Starting today, my job is to show up wide eyed and willing and ready. For what, I don’t know. For anything. For everything. To take on life. To take on love. To take on the responsibility and possibility. Today, my friends, our lives begin. And, I for one can’t wait.” -Grey's Anatomy

Congratulations To The Class of 2014 

Torn

Song of The Day: One by Ed Sheeran 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix9NXVIbm2A
I feel like I am on the edge of a precipice. I am at the point where if I am sitting alone and begin to drown myself in memories of friendships and school, I will come tumbling down. Yes, this is how I feel about school coming to an end.
One moment I am freaking ecstatic because I am graduating from high school in exactly twenty-five days. The next moment, I could be listening to Good Riddance by Green Day and I will feel the tears welling up in my eyes. For some odd reason, that song still makes me cry after all these years. I feel as if I am torn. I want to leave, but then I don't; I want to branch out and meet new friends, but I still want to keep my current ones. It is like I do not know what I want anymore. I have sat down many times over the past few weeks on my bed trying to rationalize things. I try to figure out what the hell is my problem. Back in September, I remember being so joyous and ready to be finished with high school, but now, I am sort of rethinking my situation. Don't get me wrong, I am most definitely going to miss the dear WHS, but it's been a long four years. I wish I had the right words to sum up how I feel about graduating, but honestly, I don't. Just this morning I was sitting in my first block class, and I was thinking, thinking myself to tears. I was thinking about senior night live, senior teach day, and the rest of the senior activities. Right then it occurred to me. It is totally fine to cry about graduating. The tears that I cry, they are tears of joy in disguise. I just feel like there is a flood of emotions inside of me just waiting for the dam to break.
I was recently talking to my school librarian, and she said that all of this does not become completely clear to you until you are laying in bed in your empty room the night before you leave for college. Just thinking about it now makes me want to cry. I wanted to tell her that I feel that now. I feel like now it is becoming so clear to me that it is almost over and a new chapter is about to begin. I am just torn between opening that new book and staying in the old one until I am ready to move on. We all say that we are ready to graduate, we are ready to get out into our own, and we are ready to reach new heights, but in reality, we are all scared. I know that I am and I have no issue acknowledging it. I am 100% terrified of the new life I am about to begin soon. I know that I am going to have to adjust to new things, but it is all a part of the process. It is a part of the process called growing up. I keep telling myself that I am so damn happy about graduating that I cannot stop crying. Inside of my tears are traces of happiness, accomplishment, and vacillation. The tears of happiness come from deep within me because I am happy that I am graduating. How could one not be happy about graduating from high school? The tears of accomplishment come directly from my heart because I am just so proud of myself. If I looked into my future during my junior year, I never would have believed the direction that my life is going in now. The feeling of accomplishment feels so lovely because I am just one step closer to my future. And then there are the tears of vacillation. The sensation of being torn between wanting to stay and wanting to go is so scary. Not knowing what can and will happen next is unnerving. There was a time when I would have called myself stupid for saying that I am scared to leave high school. These past four years have been the epitome of heaven and hell on Earth. Some moments have been better than others, but I don't think I would ever trade it. What we go through and experience shape us more than anything. Eventually, everything will play out. Until it does, I will be counting down the days until I graduate and contemplating how I should feel about all of this!

-Summer L.

It gets easier...(they said)

Song of The Day: You're Not Alone by Marrie Miller

Let me just note that today was the absolute worst day of all of the days I have been in high school. I usually have great days. I'm always super optimistic from the beginning of school until I leave. Today was different, much different. It seems like most of my problems from school end up having to do with my friends, well, acquaintances. 

Most of the people I am close friends with, I have known them since at least elementary school. When you are friends with a person for that long, things should feel as if they are progressing in a positive way. Well, things feel like they are declining. High school really does change people. Some people are changed for the better, and then you have those who don't. I used to have the hardest time making friends, but this year I have made SO many, and I think that is where the problem is. People are right when they say keep your circle small. I have never had this many people that I am "cool" with, and that makes me so proud. Believe it or not, I used to be extremely quiet and shy. People literally had to make me speak. If you did not talk to me, I did not talk to you. I changed for the better (I like to believe).

Being around new people, you want them to like you, laugh at your jokes, and just appreciate you. To be apart of a group in high school, you will do about anything to fit in. The people you hang out with have a strong effect on you. I know from personal experience, especially this year. The people you believe are your friends are the ones who will have you laughing so much one day and crying in the school bathroom the next.

From my experiences this year, I have learned that the only friend you can depend on to be honest with you is yourself, for the most part. Depend only on yourself, or you will most likely end up like me- wondering why the people you call your friends hurt you so badly. 

Friendships are complicated, especially if there is trouble when the relationship is new and fragile. I have also learned not to expect much from others. You cannot make people like you. Even if you go to extreme lengths to make them laugh or do anything to make them feel included, there's a chance they will not like you. It hurts when you will do anything to please that one friend, but as soon as she hears something that was ASSUMED from a person she has known for a very small time, she will flee and judge you. It happens. 

I think when you are friends for a really long time with someone, you can feel when the friendship is slowly fading away. There will be many moments when you two cannot come to similar terms. There will be times when you cannot fix something that was broken a long time ago. After that, one day you two will look at each other and that's it. All you will have is the memories from a friendship that you thought would never end. 

My goal is just not to stress the little things. Friendships come and go, but you just have to learn to get over it. Stay optimistic. Being happy is good for the body. There are way too many reasons not to be happy. If you are alive and breathing, that's enough to be happy about right there. 

Positivity is the key.

-Summer :)

Recap...

Song of The Day: Best I Ever Had by Gavin Degraw

Wooowww! I honestly can't believe I'm already three weeks into my senior year. Everything is starting to settle and sink in that I'm actually graduating in 100+ days. Yesterday that became VERY real to me because I submitted my first college application to Roanoke College! Seems crazy, right? School is going amazing, and I hope it stays that way. Of course there will be times where it may get stressful, but that's life.

The first week of school was beyond overwhelming. I am taking three AP classes this year. Yes, I said THREE! Freshman year, I never would have guessed or even thought about taking three AP classes or even one for that matter. One of my classes is online, and lets just say the first day of that sucked! The whole entire website was just straight up confusing. I finally just started getting the hang of it. 

I have never had so much work to do. I'm not complaining, I am just surprised. At times I feel like I'm in over my head because there is always something I have to be doing. I keep telling myself that this all will pay off in the end. All of the hard work is just preparing me for something greater.

In great news, I was voted senior class VP. Talk about being excited! I also was nominated for homecoming court, but I didn't win that. I was just happy that people nominated me. Everything is falling into place. My grades are pretty good at the moment, and I am happy. The best medicine is happiness :)

There will be moments when things aren't going too well and I will be stressed, but all of this is preparing me. It is preparing me for college and life. I know I can handle whatever life throws my way. I am just so happy and blessed to be surrounded by positive people. I can truly say I am in a great place in my life.

Can't wait to see how the rest of the year unfolds!

- Summer

Almost There!

Song of The Day: Burn x Ellie Goulding [Check It Out]

So, I have named myself the world's biggest PROCRASTINATOR. Summer is already halfway over, and I just started my summer reading YESTERDAY, which consists of three books (I've already read one of them last yer) and an analysis essay. Don't worry, I have come up with a brilliant method to finish fast. I absolutely love coming up with methods to help me with things. If there's a quicker way to finish something, best believe I will most definitely do it. I started off with the first book, 'Kite Runner'. It's kind of big book to me. I figured out if I read 80 pages per day, I should be finished in FIVE days. That's pretty great to me and it helps me work at my own pace. I'm only a fifth through 'Kite Runner', and I can already tell I'm going to like it!

I didn't realize how close senior year was approaching until like last week. This is all surreal to me! I have so many decisions to make in so little time. I already planned on doing college tours, so I guess I'm excited for that. I already have a strong feeling that this upcoming year will fly by. I'm just a little nervous and scared to be graduating next year. Very Scary. Just wish me the best of luck, I'm going to need it!

~Summer Elease