Choice: Narrative

           Towards the end of the year at a high school, many begin to realize the future ahead of them. Some realize the future few years while others realize it is the last time they will see their high school. As many realize their opportunity and high school career is over, many become emotional as they may not see friends, family members, and more for a long time. I was able to see the emotions of many of my teammates and friends as I saw the seniors at my high school have their final day of school and say goodbye to all of their friends. I may have not had any tears as some of my friends did, but I did have the feeling of being stunned by the fact that this may be the last time I see some of those friends, teammates, role models, inventors, etc.

             At my high school, we have many traditions not just for seniors but for everyone. Each tradition is separate either for a sport, for church, or just for remembering people. This tradition is one especially made for the seniors as they leave. We always have videos of pictures to remember the past and reflect on the good days. But it is worse when those videos are also the videos of saying goodbye or knowing something is over. We watched as a video of the seniors' pictures and memories were shown on a screen as many laughed at some memories and some were silenced knowing what this meant. After the video, the seniors greeted us one last time. We all talked to the ones we knew, who we would remember, and the ones who made an impact on our lives. I knew the event was real as I saw many of my classmates cry for their siblings and friends and teammates and some of the seniors crying as they knew it would be one of the last times they would see their past and the people they had grew up with.

              I can personally relate to the sadness and realization of this as I saw many of my football teammates leaving. The seniors helped lead us to a really good year and some crazy memories from games. I did not shed any tears but I knew the sadness and sorry was in my heart. Some of them cried as they left knowing that the career of a high school football player goes very fast. They had left their mark on our teammates and our past, there is no doubt about that. Each senior had their own kind of image from football, whether be the toughest, the smartest or just the guy who wants to play the game. Each one had a huge impact on my life as this was truly my first year of football and needing some help to understand what the game was like and what the expectations were. Each one had a different future ahead of them which could separate them from the things they love, but would never stop from going back.

             I was also part of the track team that incorporated many seniors as well. Many of them cried as our coach involves the family factor with our team and how much we practiced with each other. We had won the state title again with the ones that we had worked out with. We were also sad because one of the coaches is retiring this year that had a huge impact for the girls as he helped them for cross country as well and was just an outstanding nice guy. With his leadership, we were able to achieve a lot of great things as well as win the state title as I had stated earlier. Some of the seniors from the football team were also a part of the track team. This is how they achieved a lot of their speed for football and were able to move on from just slow to burning through the defense line with just speed. With this, they were also able to learn the ways of leadership from the coach and former players so they could incorporate it their senior year and hopefully later on in life.

             Overall, it feels like a honor to experience what I have for saying goodbye to some seniors. Many move on to really good colleges and hopefully can get really great jobs in the future. Their dreams and hopes are now becoming a reality as they know they are beginning to become adults in life. Things will change dramatically for them as they take a huge step in life and prepare for the next step. We will all miss the seniors for their leadership, helpfulness and protection. As I move on to a higher grade and even closer to their position now, I question, what will I do to make it there and what will I change?