As a senior, I recognize that the year of 2020 will be the year my life takes a major change. I begin my last semester of high school, and I realize this is my last chance to enjoy high school before it ends. After graduation, I will start a new life in college; new home, new friends, and newfound independence. I cannot wait for this year of new.

While I realize that a big change does not define you or make you a new person, it’s important I realize that this newness will in fact shape a part of my identity. I have been in the same house and at the same school since I was 5. I have not exactly experienced change in my life. There has never been much of a newness in my childhood. Therefore, this big of a change will impact my identity, making this year a new year, new me.

My fellow seniors, enjoy this last semester of high school! I know it’s cliche, but truly spend this semester with your classmates before you leave. Also, embrace the new! We are starting a new chapter in our lives, and it will impact us greatly. Meet new people, love your super small dorm, (it will be hard but embrace it!) don’t look at this as a melancholy experience. Leaving home will be sad, but really look at it as a new chapter in your life, and embrace the new.