THE END OF A DECADE, BUT THE START OF AN AGE

Determination. Perseverance. Hardworks. Those are some of the things that have helped me survive this academic year amidst lots of struggles and hindrances. I am a student who values grades so much — a sucker for academic validation. It has never been easy throughout my academic journey, I have experienced a lot of downs that lead me to lose my spark in the field of our class. I have witnessed how I lose interest. How I cannot see myself as someone who is very active in class anymore, and how disappointed I am to myself when I saw how it all affected my grades. It has never been easy to see yourself slowly fading its light.

As a graduating student of SHS, the journey has never been easy. I experienced sleepless nights doing my research alone, I cried and got tired. I experienced disappointments because everything just messed up and I feel like I'm not doing enough. I experienced losing interest in everything because schoolworks have drained me mentally.

Nevertheless, as I walked during the procession of our Graduation Day with my father on the other side, I cannot help but to be proud of myself. When I thought I couldn't bring the light that is slowly fading day by day, I am amazed how God has its way to bring me back to where I truly belong. Everything was worth it.

As the Principal of our school presented the Graduates and Completers, I can't help but to be proud of them. Every one of us has surely experienced struggles to get this far, they have also experienced sleepless nights, they have also experienced being exhausted but they didn't give up— we didn't give up. Those things were enough to make us proud of ourselves. We should be proud of ourselves for surviving!

During the giving of diplomas and giving of awards, my heart filled with so much happiness and pride as I saw each one of my friends, classmates, and schoolmates graced the stage with so much confidence. They proudly got the diploma and held it with their hands like it was a trophy. Their genuine smiles that were captured by the camera says a lot about how happy they were. However, when my name was called— my knees grew weak, my heart then gleamed with so much happiness as I stood with my father slowly walking at the stage.

While holding the medals and certificates in my hand, I couldn't help but to be proud of what I have achieved. Those are the trophies of my hard work, yet I wished my mom was also beside me, smiling at the camera while putting the medals around me. This is all for her, everything's for her.

Graduation day may be one of the happiest days of every student's life, yet it's also one of the saddest. As I sang our goodbye song together with all the Grade 12 students. I can't help but weep, my heart is so full of different emotions. Happiness because finally I made it till that day, and sadness because I knew by that time schooldays are over.

My teary eyes then spotted my friends crying, and that made me cry even more 😭😭. I just realized how they made my schooldays sooo memorable. They're the ones who make me laugh whenever school stuff is stressing me out. They're one of the reasons why I love going to school. And yet, now that we graduated, we will be navigating different paths in life, and I am not even ready nor prepared for that!

As the giving of gifts to our parents then announced. I was walking to where my father was seated with teary eyes and a proud smile. I gave him a letter of appreciation and I then hugged him. I am soo emotional I didn't even notice I was sobbing. They are the reasons why I am studying so hard. I want to give them a better future. I want them to be proud of me someday. When it was already time to go back to our seats, I left there and proceeded to find some special individuals so that I could give them the letters I've made for them.

To cut the long story short, I have found myself crying in the arms of the people I cherished the most. Relishing the moments while it was still there. All I know is that, I am so happy for them. I am so happy for us. Genuinely. No matter where may life take us, all I know is they will forever have marks in my heart. Always.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!