I have been pondering the idea of "The Future" since a little after I learned to read and write. Now that I've reached my junior year in high school, I am increasingly antsy. The classes available to me on reading and writing have been exhausted, and I am searching for further opportunities.
Recently the option of early graduation has popped up in my future plans. My mother, strictly opposed, believes I am too young and inexperienced to miss the final stages of "the best years of my life." My father is more accepting and is encouraging my decision.
Only one semester doesn't seem as drastic as graduating at the end of my junior year. But I can't help thinking about the memories I would miss during the infamous senior year.
The seniors' last day there is the climactic shaving cream fight, letting loose the tense nerves and finally trashing the place that has been prison for four years.
Senior prom. The ultimate party time, the last hurrah before being released from the comfort of planned and chaperoned school dances. I was invited my freshman and sophomore years, but my mother refused, believing I should only be allowed to go my junior and senior years; hence "junior/senior prom."
However I believe that throughout all of these memories I have accumulated many more. Homecoming dances where you worry so much about your dress and shoes matching, only to walk around barefoot the whole night.
Worrying about getting caught walking around the halls during class time, only because you wanted a drink from the school store.
Meeting your upperclassmen friends, hoping to stay in the cafeteria only to watch them walk off to their cars for an adventure off campus.
The first day of junior year when off campus is no longer off limits.
Having free periods with friends and just doing whatever comes to mind.
Learning that friends are the only way to make it through high school, especially when classes are not challenging enough to occupy your mind completely. High school has not disappointed me, and I am very content with what I have experienced. I don't believe that anything I could possibly miss the last semester could measure up to what I have already gained.
My sister is in college, at CSU where I wish to go. We are both juniors so we will be seniors together. I remember elementary school, the only time that I went to school with her.
She ignored me, wanted nothing to do with me and cringed when my mother asked her to look after me. Since then our relationship has grown and I would enjoy spending some of the most entertaining months of my life with my sister. She could take me under her wing, teach me what not to do, which classes to take and the easiest ways around campus. I would like to meet her friends and have a confidant to lead me around the first semester of college.
Graduating early is a big step, but one I believe I am ready for. I am currently bored in high school. I find myself reading for fun during most classes yet acing tests.
I want more, I need something more. I am searching for some sort of entertainment. I don't want to travel to college to waste it away at parties with new people. I would like to embrace it by learning new things, thriving in new classes and meeting challenges head on. I will miss some friends back home, and of course the easy life of living with my parents, but overall I believe leaving high school now is the only way I can successfully explore my potential. I want something to stimulate my mind, and currently, Conifer High is not meeting my standards.
Kelly Bleck is a junior at Conifer High School.