Class of 2016,

the year where the path changes.

I have traveled down the jagged road to fin it's end near.

I found a shortcut though,

because there is nothing more strange then speeding up,

a year less travel,

a closer destination.

The 3 year plan for high school is rough,

don't get me wrong,

but the speed is unrestrained as the year begins to zoom by.

There will be a day when someone asks,

"How was Junior year?"

And I will only reply,

"I can't say"

Because in our time of four years of restrictions,

four years of bullies,

four years of testing, homework, and schedules,

we miss the point of it.

To leave a year early means to learn a year faster,

to go to college a year sooner, and leaving safety.

This year will bring changes unimaginable because despite the work,

the tests,

the schedules,

the rules,

we miss the fact that it is in public school,

Kindergaten throught Senior year,

that protects us,

incubates us,

grows us for the future.

This year will be fierce,

for all, not just class of 2016, or 2017,

but for all,

because life looms overhead and each night we sleep to awake one day closer to the rest of our lives where we have no given shelter or set schedules dictated for the greater good.

We will be free and left to our own devices,

and how we grow now, will change who we are when we meet a stranger,

one who will be friend or foe as we make it so,

the year will shape the rest of our lives.