As I sit scrolling through my Instagram feed of juniors with their brand new rings, my friend texts me and asks me to read her speech for senior president.

As I read, I try to avoid making comments about how I would deliver or phrase the speech. Because it’s not mine, it’s hers.

It’s not my senior class anymore, it’s going to be hers.

One thing I’ve learned this year is about letting go- of friends who don’t deserve to be your friends, of tests that just didn’t go your way, of all the small, petty nonsense that gets girls annoyed everyday. I’ve also learned to let go of the girls I lead- because they are growing up just like me, and I have to let them.

This is their school soon, not mine.

It’s funny because as a senior in high school on the brink of graduation, you have this huge ego. You’re the best, you’re in charge, it’s your time.

But then, as the year draws to a close, the laid back confidence turns into panic because you realize you aren’t going to rule this school forever. In a few months, you will be who knows how many miles away in a strange place, not living with the people who raised you the past 18 years. The people who made you who you are today.

But back home, back at the Academy, another senior class will just be beginning. Having THEIR last first day, having THEIR last Teresian, applying to THEIR dream schools. And your ego that has been inflated all year suddenly pops because you realize: life goes on without you. The teachers who have shaped you and challenged you, the underclassmen who you have befriended and mentored, the school that was your safe haven for 4 years, all learn the same as you: to let go.

Only this time, it’s of you.

Yes, class of 2016, unbelievable as it may seem, the world will keep turning once we leave STA, just as it does after every senior class departs for the unknown. But this school and its inhabitants aren’t letting us go out of spite or indifference.

If you love something, let it go.

Whether we like it or not, we need to leave. We need to go and show the world what it means to love the dear neighbor. Because I can speak from experience in saying these seniors are some of the the most generous, genuine people I have ever or will ever meet. We need to prove that there is still hope for the future and that there are still genuinely good people out there. And in order to do that, we must say goodbye to this place and the people that we hold so dear. They made us who we are, now it is time to show the world.

But this goodbye is not forever. It’s more of a see you later. It’s a “go out and live your life and get everything you’ve ever wanted and conquer every challenge, and I can’t wait to hear about it when you get back”.

Because, class of 2016, the spirit of St. Teresa’s Academy cannot be confined to 4 brick buildings and a gorgeous quad. The people and spirit of our loved STA, the alma mater we will soon salute, will always be ready to welcome us home with love, no matter where we are.