Truth to be told, the idea of high school ending really didn’t hit me until recently. I mean, I always knew I would be graduating eventually, but it seemed like just a few days ago I was a freshman dreaming about walking down the aisle to get my diploma. I never knew just how fast such anticipations would come to an end.

It’s kind of like finishing the last page in the final book of a series; you always knew it was coming but now that it has arrived, you’re not too sure of what to do or how to feel.

But anyway, my moment of revelation came when I read just two yearbook entries from my fellow graduating friends and started to weep uncontrollably. No joke, tears of Niagara Falls descended upon me during lunch.

You don’t realize the amount of sheer bliss and happiness I felt when I realized I wasn’t wearing mascara because I would have turned into a raccoon. I’m still not too sure why I was so emotional especially since we still had a week of school left, but all I can say is that it happened. And honestly speaking, I’m not embarrassed by it.

That moment represented the culmination of everything that happened to me throughout my four years at Foothill. This campus was where I met some of my most difficult challenges thus far in life and was where I grew the most as a person.

I met some of my closest friends here; friends who helped me out of my darkest times and who were always just a Facetime away for late-night counseling. And I know that in the distant future, the few years I spent here and the people I’ve met will seem like specks within my entire existence, but that doesn’t really concern me right now. They have helped me grow as a person now, and that’s what matters to me.

Needless to say, a lot has happened to me over these four years. I learned what it really meant to care about someone, so much so that you would drop everything just to help and support them.

It was here that I learned that it was okay to not be okay sometimes, and to reach out when I needed help. I learned how to study for both calculus and government at the same time (kind of hard, but doable?). I learned how to pander to colleges on personal statements because they love being told “you’re the perfect school for me” (more subtle, of course, but you get the idea).

But most importantly and above all else, I learned that the mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell.

Foothill has been my comfort zone and stepping out of my bubble into UCSB will be difficult, but I know the transition will be worth it. I know that when I graduate from college, I will repeat these same feelings and the same sense of loss except on a different campus and with different people. There will always be another goodbye, and my goodbye to Foothill will only be one within a list of others to come.

But that doesn’t make things any easier.

So instead of continuing to wallow in my own puddle of self-pity and sadness, I will instead use the rest of this column to thank everyone who has made my time at Foothill incredible.

WARNING: Super sappy stuff is about to come your way.

I want to give my gratitude to all my teachers for continuing to push us along even when senioritis fully consumed the majority of us. I want to give my appreciation to all my friends for helping me off the edge of implosion and keeping me sane and social.

The freshman who came into this school dreaming about walking down the aisle and receiving her diploma will be doing exactly that in a few days. So it’s been good, Foothill.

It’s been good to be a dragon.