This is it seniors! We are in our final days of being students at Alliance High School and I personally could not be more thrilled. Surprisingly, it only took me one draft of this story before I knew exactly what I wanted to say. So, here it is.

The past week I have been cramming for finals and trying to get those last pieces of homework done so that I could enjoy my final days as a senior, stress free. Other than a couple presentations and a final in a dual-credit college class, this story is the last of my homework, and I could not be more relieved. This story is proof that the year is winding down fast and my life is changing faster than I could have ever imagined.

Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time reminiscing on the past four years and it is unbelievable to think how we have all changed. The difference between what use to be versus what is now is significant, but I have noticed a pattern. Not everything lasts forever.

Freshman year, I was just getting to my feet and surrounding myself with the same friends that I had through middle school. Now, I still talk to those friends, but our relationships are not the same and probably never will be.

Sophomore year, I began to work a lot more and make new relationships with people at work or in my classes. Today, I am spending most of my time working, but overall, not much has changed from sophomore year.

Junior year, I was stressed out about the ACT and all of the testing I had to do, like the rest of my class. I just wanted to survive the most dreaded year of high school, but today, we have all taken different paths. As a class, we have received scholarships, gotten into our dream colleges, enlisted in the military, or gotten a new job that could open new doors in the future.

Finally, senior year. It is the year that I will remember for the rest of my life. In August, I felt weird that all of my classes were on the top floor of the school or that my locker was in senior hallway. Unlike the last three years, senior year holds the biggest changes that left me enjoying all of the “lasts”. Like teenagers nowadays, I spent many nights crammed into a house, surrounded by monitors, gaming stations and friends, playing Fortnite. I also spent a great deal of time cruising around or referring to popular vines or memes.

Now that we are at the end of the year, not much has changed in our relationships or the way we act, but the biggest changes are still coming. In less than two days, I will leave behind the familiar classrooms, teachers, and people. I will be leaving the place that not only created memories for me, but for my siblings and mom, who also attended AHS.

Despite how easy saying goodbye is for me, I found it hard to write this story. It is no secret that I am not the biggest fan of school, and writing a farewell saying how much I will “miss” it felt foreign to me. Over the years, I was always looking forward to that last day I would walk the halls of AHS, but I will be the first to admit, I will miss it. In saying that, it is not high school I will miss. I will miss the relationships and memories I have built. After Sunday, May 13, I will not be able to walk into a classroom full of memories with one of my favorite teachers or my best friend and remember that “one time”. Also, at the start of the 2018-2019 fall school year, I will no longer be working at Dairy Queen, the job that I have had through high school. There, I made a majority of my favorite high school memories with my friends and fellow seniors, Safyre Yearling, Kelsy Peterson, Kgauge Ensign, and Mariah Stewart. Most of the memories ended with us dropping to the ground in laughter, playing small jokes on one another, or bonding over the complaints we had about school. It is at Dairy Queen that we would spend our final high school days talking about graduation, parties, upcoming trips, and our plans after high school. It is the moments like those that I will remember.

However, the hardest goodbye I will have to say is to the Spud. I was never one to join a lot of the activities, groups, or clubs and I only went to a few games, but, I made a decision my sophomore year that lead me to spending three years of my life writing for the school newspaper. During those three years, I formed a relationship with my fellow staff writers and Mrs. Digmann. In room 206, during fourth period everyday, I was updated on all of the current gossip, introduced to new people, and even lost a couple brain cells at some of the conversations held in that room. Despite some of these cringey moments, it was Mrs. Digmann’s room that I could walk into and be myself, minus the filter. It was in there, that I learned about myself and will leave the best memories after graduation. So, thank you. Thank you to the graduated students and previous Spud writers who helped me become the writer I am. Thank you to Mrs. Digmann for being a role model in my life and helping me become a better me.

Despite all of the memories I will cherish from high school, I will be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln next fall. I will be majoring in veterinary medicine and by this time next year, I will be ending my first year of college with new friends and experiences. I will be following my dreams. This is the end of one chapter in my life and I am more than ready to take on the next. Farewell.

Sincerely,

Sharia Williamson

Senior Editor