Now it's time to say goodbye

The school year at Wheatland Union High School is coming to a close, and as graduation approaches, many students are feeling the pressure. Scrambling to get projects done and study for finals, many are looking ahead to the sweet freedom that summer offers.

Some, like Trenton Crain, a freshman, don't feel quite that way. "I don't really want it to end because all the friends I have here and the sports are fun. My favorite memory would probably be playing football and practicing with my brother," he said.

Tori Hall, junior, had a bit to say about the end of the year as well: "I feel kind of sad because people, the seniors from this year, are leaving, and it's gonna be sad to see them go, but next year's gonna be pretty fun." She especially enjoyed the rallies and the fact that her junior year was a lot easier than she'd been told it would be.

While many at the school still have another year, or more, to look forward to — or bemoan that fact — seniors are dealing with a bitter sweetness that can only be brought about by seeing the close of a 13-year-long journey. As graduation approaches, a tangible anxiousness grows, either for the celebration or dread of throwing that cap in the air and leaving the halls for good.

Brandon McLaughlin, a senior, is in a unique situation, having moved up a grade and so is graduating early. When asked about how he felt about the end of his year and how it went, he said he feels "Happy, but at the same time, a little sad that it's ending, because a lot of my friends are juniors, so it's ending early for me but not for them. But I'm happy to be moving on and taking the next step.

"When I first started the year, I was a little sad because I didn't know a lot of people in the senior class, and I was kind of discriminated (against) because I had moved up from junior class this year. But I was very happy because a lot of them were very friendly, and it turned out to be a really awesome year."

Shay Davis, another senior, had a very different opinion about leaving: "I'm definitely happy about it. Gonna make my life easier getting out of here."

I personally have grown quite attached to the school and the people I've met there and will be sad to leave. Many people I have talked to are also dreading the end of the year and having to take those official steps into adulthood, but I truly think it will all turn out fine, because the 2011 senior class here is a pretty good one.

Toni Bailey is a senior at Wheatland Union High School. This is her final column for Education.