On the ninth of June 2012, I graduated high school.

It is a surreal experience, being a high school graduate. I have spent my entire life only knowing my small hometown, yet I now find myself upon the threshold of this immense, foreign reality. I have not yet realized that I shall never again wander into Mr. O’Dowd’s English class or patiently wait for the gun to fire for my next cross country race. I keep holding my diploma like a delicate butterfly, afraid that at the slightest movement it will flutter away, all a dream.

However, I am eager for this new beginning. The thought of moving to Scotland this September excites and delights me, and I wish for the hour of my departure to arrive. Most of my peers grow nervous at the thought of moving but two hours from their homes, seeing only twenty friends on campus as opposed to two hundred. As for me, I’m boarding a plane for a wild land with a wholly new culture.

For all of us starting something new this autumn, we must be brave.

Originally written 10 June 2012