mom’s choice of photos for my senior page in the yearbook – all prior 1998

I recently got invited to my ten-year high school reunion in Texas that is in the planning stages for next year. Holy wow! I may feel like the years have gone by, but I’ve got lots of good memories to go with them. I also just got an email from my college in Florida congratulating me on my recent graduation – I would have a Bachelor’s Degree now, but got my Associate’s in Business Administration in Aug. 2011 and moved to California seven months later.

I happen to keep a lot of things, but only until I realize I’m starting a collection and then I make a visit to Goodwill. I don’t want to be attached to material clutter – only the materials I need (computer and camera) to make the experiences better saved for me to remember in the years to come. I found a collection of poems that my English teacher, Coach Renaud, had the seniors write about their feelings on graduation.

Out of the 60 or more, including me, students that I graduated with the top five words they used to describe their feelings were: excited, happy, sad, scared, and with a tie for fifth was relief and anxiety. Our feelings have been met in college, in relationships, with kids, and bills. Some have made their own rules and others have broken them. Below are some of the poems that still make the most sense to me today and quotes from others. Enjoy.

Anxious to be free,
Unprepared, now I see.
Excited to walk the stage,
Ready to leave the cage,
Happy we will be free.
– Nathan Howe

Laidback is the way I feel,
Structureless is always the deal.
Inconsiderate some teachers are,
Memories only go so far,
Indecisive is becoming so real.
– Jamie Cooley

Ready to get out
Impatiently waiting, yet full of doubt
Excited for the day
Relieved, though I must say
Sadness fills my heart.
– Jessica Terry

Tiring days at high school blur in my memory;
Confusion and frustration have had a hold on me;
Liberation has come around and finally shown its face;
Wild days are a haze; I really might miss this place.
Surreal is this dream and I’m about to wake up.
When I look back on all of this I’m relieved that time is up.
– Lindsay Stafford

Diverse is the word to describe the class of ’04.
Closing is the door of our adolescence.
Exhausted after 4 long years to realize that we must begin anew.
Overwhelmed after years of hard work that have finally paid off.
Optimistic for the years to come.
– Deanna Ramirez

Inconsistent throughout the years is how it has been.
Comfortable to know there was always a friend.
Hellacious on the days far away from the end.
Content with all and
Relieved to know a new beginning is a result of this end.
– Mindy Beverly

Dumb luck got me through.
Boredom saturated the classes.
Endurance finally finished them.
Annoyance filled the last days of the last year.
Unforgettable will be the moments that will stock our memories.
– Erica Curl

Insightful describes my high school years
Stressful because satisfaction for all is impossible
Experience in the past has made me who I am today
Not limited to what I have accomplished so far
Excited to see what is going to happen next.
– Kelly Price

Fun and exciting is what high school should always be.
Confusing is what it is if you go through it as me.
Busy is the life of a student at Florence High,
Miserable…only sometimes, Mondays most for me.
“PARTY” is our motto, it’s what we like to yell,
We got it done, we had some fun, and we didn’t go to jail.
– Brandon Hensley

Happy as a man entering a new world.
Sad as a man losing his girl.
Excited as a man getting a new life.
Scared as a man about to get a wife.
Lost as a man about to lose it all.
– Jeremy Corn

Happy is how I feel for being done.
Glad for passing even though I’m dumb.
Sad from parting from my friends.
Mad because in all reality I don’t want it to end.
Scared because I’m entering something new and I don’t know what to do.
– Brandonn Henry

Grateful that we’re all through
Anxious to be done with you
Sad to be leaving friends
Excited to be meeting these ends
Joy for all the new to come
– Jessica Wise

Freedom, the greatest thing in life!
– Christy Caddell

Fulfillment is everywhere.
– Jeremy Cody

Scared to be on my own.
– Brandon Brimer

Madness is something brought out by too many.
– Taniea Baker

Stressed about growing up.
– Maci Atkinson

Sad that I have to pay my own bills.
– Ashley Reed

Nervous that I will fall when walking.
– Billie Cairnes

Happiness fills my heart.
– Kristin Powers