A graduating senior looks back
By Edwin Reyes | Sun intern — When we were freshmen at Sonoma Valley High School, we wrote a letter to our future selves as Seniors. In those letters, I doubt we wrote about how excited we were to take AP classes. Or look forward to stay up late working on homework and getting home from late sport games. We wrote about our friends, our family, our ambitions and goals.
Now at the end of our high school career, we will not remember the grades we received in every class. We will not want to remember how much time we spent on trying to make each assignment, project, essay, presentation as perfect as can be. What we will remember are the relationships we made with each other, staff, and teachers.
It is sometimes difficult to understand our path throughout high school. For me, I had no idea I would spend so much of my time in the school office. For others, it might have been connecting with a favorite teacher, being artistic or musical, hanging in the library or No Name Cafe, or using off campus privileges. Whatever it was, all that matters was that we were comfortable doing it.
Remembering the times that brought joy and happiness is easy, but the times and people that were hard on us are what drive us forward. In order to find something we are truly passionate about, we have to find something that we hate. That way, we revolve our passion around eliminating the one thing we hate to make the world around us better. The teachers that we disliked or the people we tried to stay away from are usually the people that we learn the most from.
We will take everything we learned and saw on to the next stage in our lives. In past speeches, I have heard speakers talk about the carpet squares we used to sit on as elementary students, the first time meeting a best friend, and even name-dropping teachers who seemed to be a favorite among students. These all fall under what has helped shape our views, activities, and interests. There is no doubt we will all remember where we come from. Now it is time to look forward to who we will become.
As much as the things we love the most are the main reason why we are reluctant to step through the threshold, they are the things we need to be away from right now. It will take being a number of miles or states away to understand why we are a number of states or miles away from them. Our family and peers have taught us the need to be successful not to be rich or famous, but to be happy. Success is when you can wake up and look forward to going to work, being school or a job. Achieving success takes being able to support those who were behind you when moving on. If I could give any advice, it would be to go for it — whatever it is.
One of my favorite things I learned in high school was Memento Mori and Carpe Diem. Although mortality is a heavy topic to reflect on, seizing an opportunity is something we can all manage. Today is one of those opportunities. I remember someone asking me how I can be so happy, energetic, and positive every day. I laugh at my response, because I said I couldn’t wait to go to sleep because I was excited to wake up the next day. It is exciting knowing that we are all one step closer to finding something worth waking up for every day.
And what if things change drastically? It is better than seeing and living the same things over and over. We cannot truly know for certain what is best for each and every one of us if we do not try something new. Before my last two years of high school, I had that fixed-mindset. Now I am too eager to look forward to the next stage that I can’t even bother to look back sometimes.
All I can say now is, thank you to the parents that were a part of the high school experience who helped students like me when they needed it. There is only so much we can do for ourselves, and it is definitely okay to ask for help. Thank you to all the students for being my friends and rivals, competitors and supporters. Without each other, we would not have been motivated to do our best. Thank you to the entire SVHS staff, community, and town for believing in each and every one of us.
Something very important I learned throughout high school was to live not to make a living. Live to make a difference. Our class embodies what it means to make a difference. Although the curtain is falling on our final act here, we will continue to be players in the world. As the light dims, fear not; the future is bright, and our burden is light.
Edwin Reyes, along with Emma Stanfield a SVHS Student of the Year, will attend Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.
