For CE: Goodbye by Tiffany Gu

Two, four, six, eight, only [time from g2p till graduation] till we graduate! This moment, such a long time coming is finally here. Remember those days when it took a lot of thinking and counting on the fingers to figure out when it was that we would graduate high school? Remember when 2010 seemed like something huge and distant, constantly looming on the horizon, just out of reach? But now that it's here, I know I'm not the only one sitting here with mixed feelings. Some of us will get weepy eyed just thinking of leaving this cute little bubble behind, some of us can't wait for these long weeks of in-between time to pass so that the real world and adulthood come full throttle. It's a weird place in time us seniors are in now. So much excitement and adventure is just at our fingertips, just out of reach, a few weeks of transit time, the last few weeks of incubation before we are hatched are hovering tentatively in the way. But for the time being, since we are no longer really a part of this school anymore and since we have nowhere to go for now, it's time to do a little reflection on what these past four years have meant.

I'm wavering in between missing this place too much for my own good and wanting to bust out of here at the earliest moment. Because as sheltered, as boring, as mundane as Arcadia is, it's home, and the only one I've ever known. And though the last 17 years of my life have been a bit on the uneventful side, there really isn't a whole lot here that merits serious complaining. But I know that outside this bubble lies a whole world, an exciting world that's fast paced full of culture and kind of people the wildest corners of my imagination couldn't have dreamed up. A world where peacocks are exotic, there aren't frozen yogurt places every two blocks, where, insert gasp here, Asians are a minority. It's so different out there, and at times I can't help but wonder whether this environment—regardless of how well ranked in terms of kid raising—has truly helped me be the best I can be or if it's slow pace slowed me down as well.

On the other side of the spectrum, of life, adventure is out there! All sorts of it, anywhere, everywhere, adventure will come to us without any effort at all. Wherever the winds of fate have decided to blow us for the next years of our lives –Boston, Portland, Irvine, Australia, Iceland-- it's a different place than Arcadia and I've never been more scared, more excited, more antsy to get away. Having the power to chart the course of our lives, fueling our future, so to speak, is just absolutely incredible. And yes, having power and having responsibility are one and the same, but I trust that the years I've spent at this school have prepared me to be able to take the reins and drive with confidence away from the stifling confines of this small town.

They say that the beginning and the end are the same thing viewed from different sides. The end of high school is the end of childhood, the end of free public school education (for most of us, at least). But the end of this journey is the beginning of the rest of our lives—real lives where there are consequences and choices all our own. This lies the end of just thinking vague thoughts about what magical things happen “when I grow up,” and marks the beginning of being able to make our dreams a reality. The end of reliance, the end of helplessness, the end of innocence has arrived. With this final goodbye, I bid farewell to everything that's gotten me this far and everything that's held me back. And so maybe the prospect of having control over the future is a bit scary to me. But the sheer amount of possibilities I'll have in life, the things that I'll be able to make good for myself, the excitement and opportunities overshadow the childish fear.

So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodbye.

Goodbye!

Two, four, six, eight, only [time from g2p till graduation] till we graduate! This moment, such a long time coming [awkward, rephrase] is finally here. Remember those days when it took a lot of thinking and counting on [of] the fingers to figure out when it was that we would graduate high school? Remember when 2010 seemed like something huge and distant, constantly looming on the horizon, just out of reach? But now that it's here, I know I'm not the only one sitting here with mixed feelings. Some of us will get weepy[-]eyed just thinking of [about] leaving this cute little bubble behind, some of us can't wait for these long weeks of in-between time to pass so that the real world and adulthood [can] come full throttle. It's a weird place in time us seniors are in now. So much excitement and adventure is [are] just at our fingertips, just out of reach, a few weeks of transit time, the last few weeks of incubation before we are hatched are hovering tentatively in the way [LOL, this sentence is rather run on and confusing to comprehend at first. Maybe rephrase a bit and cut out a couple of commas?]. But for the time being, since we are no longer really a part of this school anymore and since we have nowhere to go for now, it's time to do a little reflection on what these past four years have meant.

I'm wavering in between missing this place too much for my own good and wanting to bust out of here at the earliest moment. Because as sheltered, as boring, as mundane as Arcadia is, it's home, and the only one I've ever known. And though the last 17 years of my life have been a bit on the uneventful side, there really isn't a whole lot here that merits serious complaining. But I know that outside this bubble lies a whole world, an exciting world that's fast[-]paced full of culture and [the] kind of people the wildest corners of my imagination couldn't have dreamed up. A world where peacocks are exotic, there aren't frozen yogurt places every two blocks, where, insert gasp here, Asians are a minority. It's so different out there, and at times I can't help but wonder whether this environment—regardless of how well ranked in terms of kid raising—has truly helped me be the best I can be or if it's [its] slow pace slowed me down as well.

On the other side of the spectrum, [delete] of life, adventure is out there! All sorts of it, anywhere, everywhere, adventure will come to us without any effort at all. Wherever the winds of fate have decided to blow us for the next years of our lives –Boston, Portland, Irvine, Australia, Iceland-- it's a different place than Arcadia and I've never been more scared, more excited, more antsy to get away. Having the power to chart the course of our lives, fueling our future, so to speak, is just absolutely incredible. And yes, having power and having responsibility are one and the same, but I trust that the years I've spent at this school have prepared me to be able to take the reins and drive with confidence away [move to before "with confidence"] from the stifling confines of this small town.

They say that the beginning and the end are the same thing viewed from different sides. The end of high school is the end of childhood, the end of free public school education (for most of us, at least). But the end of this journey is the beginning of the rest of our lives—real lives where there are consequences and choices all our own. This lies the end of just thinking vague thoughts about what magical things happen “when I grow up,” and marks the beginning of being able to make our dreams a reality. The end of reliance, the end of helplessness, the end of innocence has arrived. With this final goodbye, I bid farewell to everything that's gotten me this far and everything that's held me back. And so maybe the prospect of having control over the future is a bit scary to me. But the sheer amount of possibilities I'll have in life, the things that I'll be able to make good for myself, the excitement and opportunities overshadow the childish fear.

So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, goodbye.

Goodbye!