sjsprWriting

As my years in Saint Johns come to an end, I feel sad and scared. It is now when I have fully realized how much this school and everyone in it has contributed in one way or another to who each one of us is today. We have spent the last four years finding and defining ourselves in this environment surrounded by heterogenous classmates and intellectual teachers. All of us have developed different passions and interests because of the many opportunities offered by the school, but also by exchanging ideas and beliefs with teachers and students.

It has been in this school where we have found our best friends; the ones with whom we have created the stories that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We all have loved, fought and lost. The walls of this school have seen us cry, smile, breathe and walk tall after we’ve aced a hard test. The walls of this school have heard us laugh, complain and share secrets. They’ve seen us heartbroken, but also they’ve seen the happiest we’ve ever been. These walls…they know each and every one of our stories.

Many of us have created an unbreakable, soon-to-be-missed relationship with the teachers. The instructors that we see everyday walking around the school analyzing and observing each of our moves, who probably know us better than we know ourselves, they are the ones that have mostly contributed to who we are today. They have inspired us to read, write, solve problems, and open up our creative selves. Deep down we all know that they care about us, which is why most of us look for them when we face a problem, because we sense that they have the solution.

Our classmates, the ones around us at every moment of every day, have left a part of them in each of us. We will always remember all of them throughout the years. Despite the fights and dislikes, we have become a family…and one never forgets their family. We will move on with life and meet new people, make new families, maybe one of us will make a discovery that will revolutionize the world, but there is one thing that I am certain of and that is that we will never forget each other, but especially the impact and mark that we have left on each other…because “marks are often scars.”

We will now transition to a new stage. There will be no more “mom pick me up from school” or “I’ll talk to the teacher to change the test.” We won’t see each other every day, we won’t know all of our classmates and all of the teachers, we won’t go home every day after 3 PM, we won’t see our parents or siblings every day…everything will change. I’m sure that many of us fear change, but we can’t keep it from coming. Sometimes, well most of the times, change is good and we need; we are wired that way. We should keep in mind that what we do the next for years in our life will have a great impact in our future as professional leaders in society. The connections we make in college with classmates and teachers will open doors to many opportunities.

Don’t give up if you can’t get an A in a class, just focus on passing the class. Meet as many people as you can, but also enjoy the next for years. Make the most out of them because opportunities like this, which so many students around the world crave, come only once in our lives. I believe the time has come for many of us to shine. And I am certain that in a few years from now each and every one of the Class of 2014 will leave a mark in this world.