The End Is Near

We are coming to a very bittersweet time at school. We are in our final week. It is a time of rejoicing, it is a time to reflect, and it is also a time of sadness. At some point in the final days we-students and teachers-will do all of these.
It is a time of rejoicing because the end has come, we have finished the journey that began in August, and for those that are seniors began 13 years ago. We will celebrate all the accomplishments of the year, the awards, the accolades, and the triumphs. We will rejoice because it was something we thought would never get here, and for some probably didn’t get here fast enough.
It is a time to reflect because now we can look back and take stock of what we learned or failed to learn. We will reflect on the journey and decide whether we got all we could and took advantage of all that was given to us. We will evaluate if this is where we wanted to be when the trip began. We will evaluate what we could or should have done differently.
It is a time of sadness because we have to move on. We will leave behind some of our youth, some of our friends, and some of the fun and games. We will also be saddened by what we failed to accomplish, or what we failed to achieve. We will be saddened by the mistakes we made and those we wronged.
High school is a great time. At 35, I can sit back and say I still feel all of these things about my time in high school. I celebrate a lot about high school, I evaluate what I received and learned, but most importantly I am saddened about some decisions I made and mistakes that I can’t rewrite. The lesson to be learned is high school is a thing that they do not have a do over for. Life is also a thing that there is no do over for. What we learn has to be used to grow and improve everyday. High school is a small part of our lives but so many things can come from the experience.
God wants our best. He knows we will make mistakes, but he trust that we will not continue to make the same mistakes. God celebrates our triumphs, God will evaluate how we have lived our lives, and God will be saddened by the mistakes we make. Because of this, we have to work each day to be better, we have to run the good race, and we have to fight the good fight. I hope I can look back at each day and celebrate success, but be humble, evaluate and learn, to improve for tomorrow, and rewrite the sadness, so as to please God.