Welp, here I am, looking back at my high school career. Today, I woke up bright and early, went to Oswego High School, got my after school Dunkin’ and came home. Nothing too special, right? That’s what I thought—until now. As of today, I only have nine more REAL days of high school. Let that sink in, seniors—nine more days.
I get it. You’re probably all thinking, “oh thank God, I’ve had enough of all this.” But, have you REALLY thought about this situation? Only nine more days of, okay, I guess contemplating life or death when you hear your alarm at 6 a.m., but so much more than that. Nine more days of seeing the people you’ve surrounded yourself with the past four years, and some even much longer, on a daily basis. Nine more days of hearing the same passing period music that hasn’t changed since freshman year. Two more Fridays of hearing the school fight song in the hall. Nine more days of seeing those friends that you only talked to during your fifth period Physical Education class. Nine more days of that class you hate, but with the teacher that made it fun. The list can go on for pages, but my point is that in nine days, us, the class of 2019, will be entering the “real” world.
We are all about to start a new chapter in our lives. Some of us are joining the armed forces, some are going away to college, and some, well, still have no idea where we’re going in life. Whether you have a plan or not, everything is about to change.
No matter how bad you want to just “get out,” try your hardest to make the most out of these final few days. Say hi to that old friend you faded away from sophomore year, thank your counselors for helping you get through these semesters, and thank your friends for sticking by your side. Why am I preaching all this? Because tonight, I myself just realized that in 12 days, I may never see some of these people ever again.
Remember your first day of freshman year? You probably walked in and thought, “ugh, this is going to last forever” – well, wrong. Or how about the last day of sophomore year, probably saying “darn, I’m only halfway there,” yep—the other half is nearly over.
All that time you wanted to get through so bad has already passed, and I guarantee you’ll soon wish you could go back to some of it. Like that one crazy substitute teacher who jacked-up your name so bad you’ll never forget it. How ‘bout that day you faked being sick because you didn’t feel like running the mile in P.E.? Or that time you won yourself a free homecoming ticket during lunch, because you danced like there was no tomorrow? Your freshman year, when you thought you were a God because you made your first senior friend. Oh, and your last first day of school, when you couldn’t wait for it to be May. Well, my friend, May is here. GRADUATION is almost here. Can you believe it? We all wanted this to be over for so long, and now we can literally count down by the hour.
In a little over two weeks, it will be the last time the class of 2019 is together as one in the same room. The day we’ve all been waiting for: Saturday, May 18. We will wake up nice and early one last time to get ready for the big day, take pictures with our family and drive an hour to Northern Illinois University—the place that will officially declare us as adults. We’ll arrive, thinking “this is it,” taking pictures in our caps and gowns with our friends. Your name will be announced, and in a sea of air-borne caps, BOOM—just like that, high school will be a thing of the past.
Whether you’re ready to move on or not, I am afraid to tell you, it’s about to happen. Once a Panther, always a Panther.
I’m Dylan Jahnke, and this is my second year with 42Fifty, which I first joined as a staff member. I am a senior at Oswego High School, and I plan to study mass communications/music management in college. I hope to one day have my own radio talk show or get into artist management. If I’m not writing or editing for 42Fifty, I’m either working at Culver’s, hanging out with friends and family, or doing homework. I am humbled to say I began my 42Fifty career my junior year as a staff writer, then Arts & Entertainment editor first semester of my senior year and now Editor-in-Chief.
