Hey, DHS. Fancy meeting you here. Come here often?

“Often” is not the word. It’s been almost 720 days we’ve spent within these walls, and if we’re being honest, that’s a few hundred too many. Think about it: that’s 17,280 hours, 1,036,800 minutes, and 62,208,000 seconds. But who’s counting? (Us. We are. Since day one.)

As any ending tends to feel, these last few days spent wrapping up loose ends (and figuring out how many unexcused absences you can swing) have felt a little bittersweet. That might be cliche, but aren’t all endings sort of cliche? There’s that soft ache in your chest, the first prick of sadness when you realize that nothing will ever be quite like this again.

But that’s the beauty of endings, isn’t it, DHS? Nothing will ever be like this again. You heard me. The bad times, the good times, none of it. Everything that happened within these hallowed halls (bear with me) – all of it is temporary. The way I see it, there’s nowhere to go but forward.

Of course, maybe I’m reading too much into things, and nobody feels even an ounce of nostalgia. (Fair possibility.)

Regardless, I’d like to share a couple things that we’ll miss – and definitely won’t miss – about high school. Whether you like it or not, this place has kind of been our pseudo-home the past four years. So this one’s for you, DHS.

I’m sure a lot of us are preparing to say our deeply sorrowful goodbyes to a lot of the little things that have impacted our time at DHS. Things like the famous orange chicken in the cafeteria that my friends rave about constantly. Or maybe yoga with Mrs. Kelly – is there truly anything better? Even though these things may not have been make-or-break in our high school experience, they’ve certainly made our time here a little sweeter.

I, for one, will miss the staircase by the gym. It’s undeniably the best one, so don’t even try to argue with me. Does leaning over the banister and pretending you’re in a dramatic music video ever get old?

Not that any of us ever did that. Of course not.

Here’s one thing none of us will miss: every single “BLOCKED” screen we’ve ever gotten for trying to Google something. Goodbye, arbitrary censorship and shoddy VPNs, hello eternal internet freedom!

On a sentimental note, I’ll say this about the Class of 2019 – we’re fighters. Everything that’s been thrown our way over our four years, we’ve tried our best to fend off. The new schedule, the Back to School Bash money scandal, Dr. Gifford’s reluctance to bestow a snow day upon the district…we’ve had our fill of struggles, and we’ve come back swinging. For that, I am glad to be a part of this graduating class. We’ve definitely made the most of our time here.

So whether you’re a cheerleader, an artist, a jock, or any other coming-of-age stereotype, it’s undeniable that DHS has changed you in some way, for better or for worse. Imagine the person you were on the first day of freshman year – maybe you were terrified, maybe you thought you were way cooler than you were. And now, think of where you are today. Older, maybe a little taller (maybe a lot), maybe a little more knowledgeable about the world. DHS is guaranteed to have taught you something, whether it’s on the “dos” side of life or the “don’ts.”

How does the saying go? Maybe the real DHS was the friends we made along the way? Yeah, we’ll go with that.

That said, DHS, we’ve served our sentences. Inevitably, we’ll turn our tassels, go our respective ways, and begin the long trek into the future. We might meet again, and we might not. Regardless, I wish each and every one of you the best in whatever you pursue. Okay, time to go listen to Hannah Montana’s “I’ll Always Remember You” on repeat for the next two weeks.