The Arrow Summer 2021

A W d t t Cla 2022 – Andie Tate Schultz

I feel honored and blessed to have the chance to speak in front everyone today. It is something that four years ago, I would have never imagined for myself. This gives me an opportunity to send a message to our rising seniors of 2022. I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around the idea that once I finish this speech, and I am handed my diploma, my high school career is over. Once I start to head down that notorious Oak Hill Road with my bags packed, I will strain my neck looking back to the place that has been my home for the last three years. A place that has provided me a stable and safe environment for me to grow as a person. Once I toss my cap into the air with the rest of my senior class, red and gold fabric becoming a blur, I will no longer be an Oak Hill student. This is a day that many of us have been looking forward to since the beginning of August. Some of us have been checking boxes on their calendars in anticipation of the day that they finally get to “be free,” the day they finally begin the next chapter in their lives. Me, on the other hand, I have been cherishing every single second of my senior year. As B-Rock always says, “Don’t count down the days, but make the days count.” My junior year was cut short because of COVID; I missed out on a lot and didn’t get to say goodbye to friends or teachers. Everything changed in an instant, and I really took that for granted. It wasn’t just our school that suffered, but every other school in the country. We have been incredibly lucky to have a somewhat normal school year. For so long I was focused on what the future had in store for me, I forgot to embrace the present. My message for the Class of 2022 is to start thinking about where you are in this moment. Start taking the time to look around you and see the people you spend every day with. I want you to do this because you never know how quickly you can lose something, just like I had no clue that my junior year was going to be halted. After that experience, I now strive to really live every day. I want every interaction, every moment, that I have with the people around me to be meaningful and real. I want to create a purposeful life with others before I have the chance of losing it. I remind myself that this point in my life won’t last forever, because nothing does. So instead of checking your watch to see how many minutes are left in class, or complaining about the mandatory social you have to go to, remind yourself that you only have so long before high school is finished. You guys will hopefully be up here next year. All of you will be thinking to yourself, “I didn’t think it would go by so fast.” We never do. None of us can anticipate the fast, inevitable future around the corner. It is a part of life that I, no matter how much I cherish my time here, will not be able to stop. The world will keep turning and you will keep moving with it. I’ve accepted the fact that I am an 18-year-old girl, and that I can’t stay in high school forever. I feel okay leaving because I know that I have worked as hard as I could to make every moment, every memory, every relationship that I have, significant. When next year comes around, remember these words for when you fill our shoes when we are gone.