by Diana McDermott ’13

Many of us can look back at high school and remember who our friends were and who our friends weren’t. Who we hated freshman year and who hated us. The people we dated and the people who dated the people we dated. But no matter what conflicts you remember from high school, don’t focus on the pain, focus on the lesson you learned.

 In the end, at the closing of this chapter of our lives, I leave you, seniors of the Class of 2013, with this. It doesn’t matter who you dated, what you wore, who you hung out with, what people thought about you, how good your grades were, what classes you took, what teachers you had, so on and so forth. It only matters what you learned about yourself. The conflicts and hurdles you climbed shaped who you became. Who you became is greater than who you were. As you go on, continue to shape yourself but for the better. Don’t let petty drama bring you back to your old self circa freshman year.

Have you ever tried to recall a fight you have had with someone, but been unable to remember what the fight was about? Or tried to remember why you were upset about a situation, but couldn’t? This is because over time, when you get over a situation, you forget how you felt and only remember how it turned out. This is the healthy approach to moving on from rough patches in life. Some of us continue to hold onto the pain and let it change our actions. This leads to nothing but more pointless conflict when nothing is learned but the emptiness of revenge.

The difference between the strong and the weak is the strong move on while the weak remain static. Life is a journey that progresses. There is only one direction to move: forward. Live life with no regrets and look back to find the good in the bad. Even as we leave high school and move on to bigger and better things, life is a perpetual classroom. Never stop learning.