I imagine on my last day it would be as if peace washed over me as I stepped off the campus for what would be my last time. 

Memories of my favorite teachers flashed through my head as I took one step further off of campus. Another step and I could hear the giggling of my friends and me as we skipped through the halls singing Miley Cyrus songs before a football game. The last step to my car and every single memory of my friends and teachers pass through me.

I would hike my white tote bag up my shoulder, take one more look back at the place I’ve spent the last four years of my life, and hop into my car to drive away from Agua Fria for the very last time. I wouldn’t be sad, at least not sad enough to cry. I wouldn’t regret anything, not even my worst moments.

There was a point in my life where I couldn’t imagine actually going off to college. Couldn’t imagine growing up. It was out of my reach, completely incomprehensible, and it didn’t help that I, much like my mother, hate change. It didn’t help that the biggest change of my life was coming up and it would be here real soon.

That moment when I forced myself to come to terms with the fact that I was growing up, I realized all the things I would no doubt be leaving behind. I would be leaving behind the safety and familiarity of Agua Fria, my home, and my job.

The hardest part was that I would no longer live with my rambunctious little sister, my forward, blunt mother who loves sushi and the color pink, and my loud, soccer-obsessed stepdad. I wouldn’t be waking up to screaming because the ref pulled a red card on his favorite team on Sunday morning or 90s music on cleaning day. I won’t be waking up at 5 a.m. so I could make it to school at 7:10 a.m. on the dot. I won’t be able to take my sister out to ice cream or boba simply because. Everything would be different.

However, if there is one thing that I’ve learned is that this is an opportunity. Saying goodbye may be hard right now but I’m moving on to create a life of my own. I’m taking the memories of everything I know with me and I’m going off to create a difference in, what may not be the entire world, but the community in which is my world.

So goodbye to everyone I won’t be seeing again. Goodbye to the teachers that I loved and the classrooms that I spent four years sitting in. Goodbye to Agua Fria and hello to the start of what’s going to be the rest of my life. This chapter of my life may be coming to a close but a new one is starting to be written.