Student voices: This is a time to reflect, look forward

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In nearly every movie based in a high school environment, graduation becomes this gigantic step in the protagonist’s life. It immediately thrusts them into adulthood and slams the door to any glimpses of the carefree childhood they have left behind.

Friends move on and grow apart, most often finding each other again later in life. And tho-ugh I myself have not lived through the experience of a high school graduation, I think Hollywood has forgotten about the summer to come afterwards.

I have always seen my graduation as this shining light in the distance, the end to all of my hard work and the place where I would finally receive my reward for everything I have done in the previous 12 years. As exciting as graduation is, being that it is so close, the finite nature I have built up in my head is slowly fading. My reward for my hard work is the opportunity to attend an incredible university.

But what will I work for there? Another sheet of paper that is recognition for all I have accomplished. Graduation is the acknowledgment of the end of a journey, but in actuality what’s been learned along the way is much more valuable than the certificate that says you have performed adequately.

Though going back to the school after graduation will never be the same, it isn’t a harsh cut off from everything we have known. We have three glorious months of summer to spend time with friends without the summer homework or working a crazy amount to try and save some, or spend a lot of money.

Graduation will mark the end of my high school career, but not the end of my silly antics with friends and my making memories in my hometown. And though this accomplishment is something I think should be celebrated, because it has been a feat to achieve, I think the lessons learned along the way should be just as admired.

Addie Iverson is a senior at Rosemount High School. Her column appears every third week.

Tags: high school, opinion, rosemount, commentaries