I would like to preface this post with a little note: I had
originally intended to write and publish a post BEFORE graduation, but at the
point it was very hard for me to find the right words. Now, after graduating, I
have found them.
Trails to Blaze: A Message to the Tates Creek High School
Class of 2016
This time yesterday, even though
the formality of my last day of high school had passed, I was still a high
school student. I woke up giddy, the happiest I’d been in weeks—the sun was
shining, it was warm outside, and that night at 7 p.m., I was going to graduate
high school. Four years of my life were about to become sealed in the past by the
simple turn of a tassel.
My
graduation is over. I am no longer a student at Tates Creek High School, but an
alum. And at this moment, I am caught in a complicated swirl of emotions,
emotions I am sure many of my now-former classmates share.
I am overwhelmed by both what is behind me and
what lies ahead.
In taking this huge step forward,
we are leaving behind our familiar classes, sports teams, and clubs, not to
mention the friends we gained from them. We are scattering across the state and
across the country, where we’ll fill our lives with new people and new
experiences. As of today, the past four years are now nothing more than a
memory, and all that lies ahead of us is a very uncertain future.
But,
it’s a future I believe we can navigate, even if we don’t know quite where
we’re headed, even if we veer off the path from time to time. From the get-go,
I knew there was something exceptional about the Class of 2016. We are made up
of accomplished athletes, scholars, and artists. We have powered through one of
the most competitive college application seasons to date, earning acceptances
and scholarships left and right. We are a class of people who are both dreamers
and doers, ready to chase what they want without question. High school was not
always easy—for many, it never was—and yet we pushed through because we
believed in the promise of the future. That future begins today.
This is
a thank-you, both to those I know and those I do not. Last night, we were part
of something truly special. For me, the best moment of the whole night was
right after we’d left the arena, when we were shouting and cheering and
throwing our arms around each other because we
did it. I’ve never felt a space filled with so much joy.
Today
is a day for both celebration and mourning. We celebrate our accomplishments,
our memories, our friendships. We mourn the friendships that could’ve been but never were, and the things we could’ve done but never found the time. But I
encourage us all to find contentment in these past four years. Life does not
always work out the way we want it to—we are all moving forward, with no idea what
the next day will bring. I believe if we focus on the good in our memories of
high school, we’ll be able to ride that positive momentum into the next chapter
of our lives.
Tates
Creek Class of 2016, we have trails to blaze. We will be leaders, inventors,
entrepreneurs, creators, and winners, all in our own right. We will come to
write our own definitions of success, and then we will match them. I have
unwavering faith in us all. I am honored to be a part of such an exceptional
class of students, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for all
of us.
Erin Christopher
Tates Creek High School Class of 2016
Florida State University Class of 2020
Tates Creek High School Class of 2016
Florida State University Class of 2020
