I’ve been having dreams for the past few months about graduation. Each is always a little different from the last, but it always includes finally walking across the Basalt High School stage, getting handed my diploma and throwing my cap up in the air to celebrate.
I can’t be the only one, right? Every high school senior across the country is probably having those same dreams. And that dream is almost a reality.
For the Roaring Fork School District, graduation is only in two short days from the time this semester’s final issue of The Sopris Stars prints. Forty-eight hours remain before we can call ourselves high school graduates and start the next chapters of our lives. It’s very exciting, but also a bit overwhelming for a lot of high school seniors, like myself.
Everyone has their own experiences outside of high school that have shaped their perceptions of these past four years and have been a part of their life and now their story. For me, it is kind of surreal that I’m graduating in a few days, and I’m probably not the only one that feels that way. After four years — four grueling years for most of us — we’re finally here. As tough as it was to get to this point, with all of the assignments, tests, AP exams, finals, friendship, social drama and senioritis, we’re here. It’s finally a reality that we all are taking the next step in our lives, whatever that may be.
All of us come from different backgrounds, different experiences, different highs and lows in our lives. However, all of us, regardless of our stories, have one thing in common: We’re all about to walk across that stage on Saturday and become high school graduates. And (hopefully) we are all excited to take this next step in our lives, whether that is going to college, working or joining the military or whatever path you’re going to take in the future. Congratulations Class of 2026, we made it!