Suddenly, everything has the word “last” attached to it. I have been avoiding thinking that way all year because I don’t want to make graduating and leaving high school a sad thing, but that’s the way it’s been all year. Last time returning to school and having a first day, last time with a new high school schedule, last time in the Mighty Rustler Marching Band, last football game, last time in pep band, last basketball game, last pep assembly, last concert…you name it. On this particular day, May 24, 2013, I played in the CMR Symphonic Band for the last time. I can guarantee that I am not the only one feeling this way.

A lot will change for all of the seniors and for the rest of CMR when we, the class of 2013, graduate. But I still want to hang on to a positive mentality. There are a lot of underclassmen I know who have a senior that they are sad to see leaving. But to all those who this applies to, know that the story never ends. It may be the end of an era, and we will all miss each other, but as high school students gain a year of seniority and seniors go on to the next chapter of their lives, we are all going on to bigger and better things, inside CMR and outside it.

I have seen a lot of things change hands recently. I saw the new student government get elected, and I also got to see the choosing of the new editor in chief of the Stampede. I got to elect a new percussion section leader and choose who the Spirit Sticks that I was lucky enough to hold will go to (they are not the same person this year, but this isn’t the first time it’s been that way). I saw the new drum major in the pep band get elected. I personally love watching all of these things happen, just like I love finding out how the new Doctor in “Doctor Who” is when the actor playing the role changes. I love to watch old shoes filled with new people, and I was glad to be a part of it this year.

I, like many of the seniors I’m sure, learned a lot and had a great time in high school, and I’m ready to get to college and become an even better person with a higher education. I’m also excited to return for visits and see how the next senior class is doing as the people who are in charge of running the school.

It is a bit weird, however, that we are the ones leaving now. At the start of freshman year, I was thinking, “man, I’m never going to get done with this!” Now, in the last few days, it seems all a blur. But when I stop to think about it, so much has happened over these four years, and so many memories have been made. High school will be a time of my life that I will remember fondly and cherish in my memory, and I hope to keep in touch with all of the friends I made and to apply all of the things I’ve learned in the adult world, where we are all headed.

To the class of 2013, there is a saying out there that says each generation is greater than the last. We are the next generation. Let’s be the greatest yet to come!