The Literary Dreamer

Yesterday night was our commencement ceremony. The entire evening seemed to go by in a blur; all I really remember is waiting for my name to be called, then returning to my seat on the stage afterwards. There seems to be a gap in my memory between that. I was surprised to receive a financial award from Friesen’s, split with my friend Kyra, who is the other Senior Editor of this year’s Yearbook (we had no idea we would be receiving this until our names were announced and we walked across the stage.) I did not cry when we threw our caps up in the air as I thought I would, and I hardly felt emotional during the evening at all. I didn’t even get a chance to take any cap and gown photos with my friends because we didn’t have time, and we had to return our gowns as soon as we walked offstage. I realize that high school commencement is supposed to be a somewhat sentimental and memorable event, as it is considered one’s “official” graduation, but after the grad banquet and last night’s ceremony, I have become fully conscious of how removed my friends and I are from high school. Many – if not, most – of the most unforgettable times I have had within the past five years have occurred outside of school, as many of my friends live in other cities and attend other high schools. It’s sad that I never had the complete “high school” experience, what with the sports games and extracurricular activities and wild parties, but that simply wasn’t who I was, or who I am. I believe my time will be after high school – perhaps in university, or even afterwards. The most important thing of all is that I have made memories with some of the loveliest people in the world whom I am lucky to consider my best and close friends. Graduating from high school with a bilingual dogwood is an accomplishment, but there is life outside of high school, and I am looking forward to beginning my own, however scary that may be.