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Waking up from high school
On 5/25/2007

Contributed by: Kristin Osani on 5/28/2007

Had someone told me the night of my first day as a freshman at Chaparral High School that I would wake up the next morning and find myself a graduated senior, I wouldn't have gone to sleep. But as it stands, sleep has its ways of creeping up on a person without her even noticing, blurring the line between wakefulness and Dreamland until it becomes a seamless bridge.

These past four years have passed in the same way. I swear I was awake for every single moment (well, most of the time; I admit, I did take the occasional nap in class), yet looking back, it seems like nothing more than a very vividly remembered dream(slash-nightmare). Even the ceremony at Coors Ampitheater on Friday, May 25, felt surreal, like I was watching a movie--though this may be partially accredited to the fact that I had been up since 4:00 AM in order to get ready.

I remember freshman homecoming. My friend Shannon Clark and I had just come home from a few hours at our first Nan Desu Kan, the Denver anime convention, and we decided last minute to go to the dance that Saturday night. She let me borrow a baby blue dress, and she wore a black one. I still laugh thinking about her willingly wearing that thing--now, woe unto the fool who'd try to wrestle her into the ultimate emblem of girliness.

I remember the first time I took Creative Writing, second semester of sophomore year. I can't even begin to describe the amazing feeling of having a fifty-minute niche in the day dedicated to only writing, but it was so euphoric that I took the class again, and again--five times in a row, to be exact. Ms. Carol Hendry helped me grow as a writer and a person more than anyone else in my life, with the exception of my mom, and I will be forever in her debt.

I remember hanging out in the library second semester of junior year. I had taken seventh period off to compensate for the Japanese course I was taking at the University Center across from the high school--the semester before, I didn't, and by the time winter break rolled around, I was utterly exhausted. Had I not taken seventh off second semester, I probably would have keeled over from a homework overload.

I remember prom '07, Mile High by the Moonlight at Invesco Field. Wow-- the single best night of my life. I woke up that morning at 8:30 and headed over to the new nail salon on Mainstreet and 20 Mile for a manicure and pedicure with my mom and close friend Kat Lewis. Then Mom and I went home for a quick bite of lunch before driving over to Absolutely Hair on Dransfeldt to get my hair styled; and after that, it was a long two-and-a-half hour wait for everyone to show up so the limo could take us to Red Lobster for dinner. After dinner we came back to my house so a few of us could change into our prom outfits, and then it was off to Invesco! I had so much fun dancing with Matt (who looked amazing, by the way! Could I be any luckier?) and my friends. I was sad to leave, but the night didn't end with the dance: we all headed to my house to party. We snacked on junk food, played board games, and amused ourselves with Wii Play before finally crashing around 5:30. I was so exhausted the next few days, but it was worth it! If I could live any day over and over again, a la Groundhog Day, it would be May 5, 2007.

High school is over. I have yet to grasp this fact despite the teary-eyed teachers and family and the crazy graduation parties and the diploma on my desk, yet to reach full consciousness from the groggy world of dreams. I'm still swimming beneath the surface, blearily blinking my eyes at what's in front of me. As sleep abandons me, as my vision clears and crisps, I'll be able to realize that what I'm looking at is not another year at Chaparral, but my freshman year at CSU Fort Collins. Once I'm fully awake, high school will become the residue of the dream from the night before, clouded and hazy, but always remembered.



CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2007!


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Tabitha Dial
posted on 6/4/2007 @ 9:21:22 AM
Rated Story
Wonderful blog! So much for you to look forward to. Best of luck at CSU.
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Submitted By: Steve Shultz
posted on 5/28/2007 @ 1:44:34 PM
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Congratulations, Kristin! Thanks for sharing. I wish you the best at CSU. Keep in touch!
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Kristin Osani

Parker , CO

Kristin Osani has posted 18 stories and 1 comment since joining on 5/2/2006. Kristin Osani 's average story rating is 5.
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