By Kaleia Morningstar

The week before her senior year started, Kloe Marshall was anxious to prepare for this first day. The preparation looked a little bit different from previous years. As she roamed the aisles of Walmart, searching and reminiscing, Kloe looked at all the cartoon bookbags, and nostalgic childhood memories overwhelmed her thoughts. Cartoon characters’ faces flew by her as she rushed down the paths between the shelves. X-Men, Mickey Mouse, and SpongeBob watched as she scanned the aisles for the perfect senior bookbag.

“It felt like I was walking through the Walmart halls looking for what my inner child would like rather than what I, as an 18-year-old, would like,” Kloe said. This bookbag had to be perfect. This was her last one, signifying an end to her youthful school years.

Everything was changing this year, and seniors were about to experience their last first day. They couldn’t help but feel a tsunami of emotions. Some of those emotions were relief, while others were distress.

Marley Steele, who thrives in the routine of school, was excited. “I was ready to go,” he said. Yes, everything was different from previous years for him, but so much was the same. That was something he was eager to experience again; the familiarity.

The start of the last year feels like an ending to a chapter. Changing friendships, juniors growing into seniors, and everything final was expected to fill this year.

“Everyone is trying to have the best time they can because they know it won’t last.” Marshall said as she struggled to understand her emotions. She felt as if the life she had known for the past three years was ending. Marshall expressed that she wanted to make memories this year.

Marshall wants to remember all the lasts; she wants to remember everything before she moves on.

Samatha van Opstal had similar, yet conflicting feelings. “This [is] the last year until you get out,” van Opstal said as she described how excited she was to plan for her future and to have more independence. However, she couldn’t get past those memories that were so reminiscent of her school years.

Not only did Galileo’s students feel a mix of emotions, but so did their parents. Parents emotionally watch their kids experience the firsts of kindergarten and are heart-heavy as they watch their kids finish off all the lasts of senior year. Soon their kids would be going to college, applying to the military, or joining the workforce, and that was something most parents did not want to think about.

“My mom was a wreck,” Marshall said. Her mom knew that this was the last year before her daughter was going to college. Kloe, along with her mom, knew things were going to change. It was inevitable, but both wanted to prolong this senior year.

Stressing about the past and future is common for soon to be graduated students. These seniors can’t help but think about things they could have done differently.

Isaiah Abel wishes he would have taken grades and sports more seriously. Samantha Van Opstal wishes she would have procrastinated less. Emmanuel Johnson wishes he would have talked and interacted more. 

Along with reflections of the past, stressing about the future follows close after. However, the senior Falcons need to understand that this is not the end of a chapter, but a continuation. This last school year is not the end of their book. So much will transpire in their abundant lives that will only leave them grateful. So, despite all of the stress these students have experienced, whether from looming deadlines, changing friendships, pestering teachers, or tiring sports, their lives are just starting.

This year may be the last of high school, but it will also be the best, and it is not the end!