Dear Agua Fria High School,

Ever since I was a young girl I was always told that I was going to Desert Edge due to it being close to my grandma’s house. But after having to live in the same apartment complex for over nine years, me and my older siblings had to go to you instead and you’ve taken decent care of us. But since I’m the youngest sibling, it’s time to say goodbye for now.

Since these are my last words written for OwlFeed I have a couple things I need to say about my experience here. I’ve learned not only so much about myself but about others, from having a seemingly normal freshman year, to almost two years of online school during sophomore and junior year, and having to figure out how to interact like a normal person again my senior year.

I always grew up pretty shy, but I think coming here really made me come out of my comfort zone and forced me to not always fade in the background. And I thank you for that!

The thing that stood out from my high school experience is all the people I’ve met who have had the biggest impact on me. 

I would first like to thank Mr. Brumbaugh for being my film teacher freshman and sophomore year. You are an amazing teacher and I appreciate you caring about me. I also appreciate your great dad jokes when I wasn’t feeling my best.

I also want to thank Mr. Babyar for also being my teacher for film my junior year. You managed to impact a huge class of students from the comfort of your own home. I appreciate your honesty and constructive criticism to make me better at the thing I love so much. 

Ms. Rams, I only knew for one year, but you have changed my life for the better. You are an amazing teacher for teaching high school students for the first time. Your psychology classes were always engaging and encouraged me to study it in the upcoming future. I enjoy your weird humor and happiness so much. Also thank you for always willing to listen to my weird work stories. You were always bright light for when I was going through tiring, stressful times and I thank you for that.

Finally, another teacher I want to thank is Mr. Jovanelly. I had you for three years in a row and have changed me into the person I am now. You made me always feel welcomed in geometry and journalism. You trusted me with so many leadership positions and I thank you for that because it made me start to trust myself more. You are going to do so many wonderful things in the future for this school and the world. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

Moving forward, I would like to thank some of my besties. I want to thank Faith Ogie who I’ve worked with so many times during film with and in other classes. I always appreciate your input and hope we can work together someday in the future. Miss you!

I also want to thank Olivia Wotherspoon who I met sophomore year. You have made every day so much more joyful since then. You always make me laugh so hard over the most random things. You are a literal ray of sunshine. 

I want to thank Simone Chery, for always being there and helping me in my classes. Without you, I would have failed Honors Pre-Calc and AP Lit. You are an amazing human being. 

And finally, Makayla Kennedy. I’ve known you since kindergarten and couldn’t think of a better person to be my partner in crime. You are everything to me and I appreciate and love you so much. You are so talented and I can’t wait to see what you do in the future. It has been such a privilege to grow and learn with you. 

Of course this isn’t goodbye, as I will be going to all of your dorm rooms at GCU to raid all your mini-fridges. You’re all great friends and I love you all dearly. Thank you!

I’d also like to thank my older brother and sister, Antawn and Jasmine Salinas, for their great words of encouragement and advice throughout the past four years. I also want to thank them for waking up early and getting me to school on time (most of the time). Thanks!

In general, I’d like to thank Agua Fria as whole as it has made me feel welcomed and constantly questioning and thinking about my future. Thank you!

For my final words, here’s the senior quote I never got to put in the yearbook: 

“And with a little Rusty’s (and an insane amount of luck) you too can graduate like me! Ka Chow!” 

With Love, Anna Salinas <3