Senior Farewell - a Message to the PTHS Graduating Class of 2017

Each year, two hundred students of PTHS walk out the doors on graduation day ecstatic to walk into the real world, while PTHS remains in their past. The future of each graduating senior is unknown, yet the possibilities are infinite. Being at PTHS for four years, though, will forever shape our future endeavors.

Since freshman year, we have awoken every weekday at dawn and walked the halls of this school to get to these final days. Four years ago, surviving high school was our only focus. We were unaware of the ways in which we would grow and the people we would become. We have learned from our mistakes and learned what it is like to thrive in an environment that was completely unknown to us just a short time ago. Every success and failure has led us to where we are right now. After June 20th, we will face the rest of our lives. We will all go in separate directions, but will always remember the memories we’ve made here at PTHS.

For some, graduating may seem like the end of the world. We have become so equipped to get up and be at school by a certain time. Some may feel as though they have “mastered” high school, but are apprehensive about what the future entails. The outside world, though, will teach us an abundance of knowledge that we may not have even thought about before. We will struggle and become scared at times when we realize that there is no rule book for adulthood, yet those struggles will only continue to help up grow as individuals.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” No matter where you end up in life, stay true to yourself. When you feel as though you cannot continue on or cannot escape whatever it is you’re going through, remember that anything can be done if you stay confident and optimistic. If you take control and choose the way you feel about situations, hope can always exist. May your future endeavors be filled with joy and success and may you always find the will to continue on. This end is just another beginning.