This 2002-2003 school year is almost half over, which seems extremely hard to believe. I am a junior at Monmouth Academy, and I am finding it awfully hard to grasp the fact that, in about one and a half more school years, we will be venturing out into the “real world”. It seems extremely relieving, yet saddening and scary; that I, along with the very same people (and some new ones) that I have grown up with since kindergarten, will be graduating from high school soon.

When we first entered the school as juniors, after the long summer break, one of the first things, I think, all of us noticed was the change in the amount of work expected of us. We now are realizing, more and more, that it is crucial for us to do the best possible job we can. There is life beyond high school, and as more and more of our upper-classmen peers are disappearing into the abyss of college life, I think most of us are realizing that it will soon be our turn, and that we definitely need to be ready. We have already taken our PSAT’S and the first half of the MEA’S (which will be sorely missed, I’m sure, since this is the last year of having to take them). We can clearly sec that things are drawing to a close, yet we can also see that, during the last year and a half, there will need to be a lot of work put into our future.

Now, more than ever, I have noticed far less people my age saying “when I grow up…”, and now I am hearing stuff more along the lines of “when I’m a little older…”. This change leads me to believe that people are no longer in the mind- set of young children, who view being an adult as a far-off dream; but rather, they see the future within their grasp; which, in a way, is rather scary for me. On the contrary, I find some others who embrace the idea of embarking on a new life. No matter what viewpoint we have, however, I feel we will all note the drastic change graduation has in store for us, and when that time comes, I hope we are all prepared for the future ahead of us.

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