We are 17 days away from our high school graduation, and let me tell you- it’s WILD! While most of us seniors are unbelievably excited to finally leave the nest (lol Kadet puns), there are many things that we will miss about being kids. With the majority of us being 18 now or within the year, we are beginning to feel like it is our turn to be adults and be free of our parents’ constraints.

The obvious thing that we will miss are our friends. Whether they are graduating and going to a different college or they are not graduating and staying here for another year or two, they will be too far away for comfort. Many people are lucky in that their friends are going to the same college as them. For me, my best friend is going to UNC Greeley with me and there are many, many people who are going to CU Boulder.

“It’ll be nice to sometimes hang out with them and have them as a foundation, but I am also excited to make a new group of friends and branch out,” says senior Jake Werner.

Another comfort that many of us will miss is the constant emotional, physical, and even financial support from our parents. Most of us have never experienced a time when we couldn’t run to our parents whenever we needed help. The responsibility to take care of ourselves is on us now. For those of us who are moving out of state for college, a mere phone call might not always be enough. They won’t be making us dinner or scheduling our doctor’s appointments, helping us with homework or driving us to school. The big one is that many of us seniors are paying our own way through college and that means getting jobs and learning how to spend money responsibly. While some people are ready for this change, others are staying close to home so that they can have their parents constant support through college’s struggles. Luckily, UCCS and PPCC are only a 10 minute drive from Rockrimmon where most of our student body lives.

Taxes are a thing that no one is excited about. As numerous seniors go out and get their first jobs, finances need to be handled. In my experience, high school did almost nothing to help me understand this and now we are going out into the real world.

“I honesty don’t know the first thing about doing taxes,” explains senior Ryn Wayman. “I wish that I would have been more prepared during high school for this.”

Barely any of us know how to balance a check book or what the difference is between checking and savings accounts, and now we have to go out and learn to do these things before we move away.

As students in public school, we have been lucky to go to school with minimal fees to be payer. Sure, there were lab and activity fees, but those are nothing compared to the thousands we are about to pay for tuition. For some, instead of getting a part time job, scholarship applications have been taking up the majority of our free time.

The final thing is the culture. All the school dances, with the preparation and dinner and photos are some of the fondest memories from high school. The assemblies, class color days, and senior sunrise; all of these are images will stay with us for our lives.

“Getting to spend high school with such great people made me realize how lucky I am to have met them and how much I’ll miss everyone after graduation,” says senior Emma Lilly. “These experiences have helped me to grow and learn about who I am.”

High school is a vital part in the development of our personalities and our views, and we have all been lucky to spend our time here. As a final sign off, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who made my time here so wonderful and who have helped shaped me into who I am today.

Thank you, Air Academy.