Madeline Burk often sits down with her senior friends at cheer practice to catch up and share a few laughs. She takes that time to learn from them, share memories from cheer, and reflect on all the good times.
But, soon that will all come to an end.
In less than a month the senior class of Lakeland High School (LHS) will be walking across the stage at graduation.
Sure that may be exciting for them but, it can be more daunting for the people they are leaving behind.
“It is heartbreaking because I have grown in a relationship with them and once they are gone it is over,”Burk said.
That may seem a little dramatic however, it is something many of their underclassmen friends are just now coming to terms with.
Whether they met this friend through sports, extracurricular activities, or simple as sitting next to them in class.
When seniors become friends with people from the lower class they act as almost an older sibling even unintentionally.
Taking the younger classmate under their wing which makes it extra hard for the underclassmen to see them graduate.
They are often left noticing that next year they won’t have a lunch buddy, the same person to walk to class with, or their senior friend to ask questions.
It is a hard realization for the underclassmen to swallow.
Not only that but they are slowly realizing that they have to fill their shoes.
They now have to become the upperclassmen that everyone looks up to, asks questions, and leads by example.
This is just another thing they realize that they are now going to be the top dogs of the school.
It is also an odd thing to think about.
To know that many of your friends will be moving on with the next step of their lives and even beginning the first phases of their career.
They are taking a step into the real world and leaving you behind in the fantasy world that is high school.
It is strange to imagine your own classmates wearing a cap and gown, walking across the stage and ending their high school career.
It is something many have been looking forward to for a long time and now they are finally there. Meaning that soon that will be us.
Walking across that stage, shaking our principal’s hand and saying goodbye to the place we have spent the last four years of our lives.
To kiss it all goodbye.
That is the hardest thing about high school.
Knowing that it all comes to an end. That every year someone is saying goodbye to their senior friends, their favorite teachers, or even as simple as the consistency of showing up everyday.
Having a place to be everyday is something that on a random Tuesday is not required of us anymore.
That one day we leave that place, we leave our underclassmen behind, we leave those random faces in the hallway.
We say goodbye to class clowns,to the spirit days, we say goodbye to Friday night lights, all so abruptly.
“I am going to miss seeing my friends everyday,” Elizabeth Duce said.
For so long we look forward to leaving and getting out until we realize what that truly means.
“I am going to miss my family, teachers, and the cheer team,” Annalie Terzulli said.
It really means saying goodbye to the past twelve years of schooling and saying hello to a whole new level of education, or even for some, stepping into the doorway of a lifelong career.
The thing is staying connected with the friends that leave you behind at high school.
Hoping that they still talk to you even though they’re moving to a new stage of life.
It can be equally as scary for the seniors who will soon have to make the plunge into the real world.
Being forced to leave everything behind that is familiar and enter a life of unknown and uncertainty.
