Graduation Poem

Numbers

I am no expert of all the numbers in the world

But for six I am quite certain.

Together we start our journey at 12

12: For the number of times you tried to open your locker on the first day of school and for the number of times that you predictably failed.

The minutes late you were to class everyday

And 12 pounds that your backpack constantly weighed

12 for the number of times your mom asked on the phone when to pick you up and for the 12 times you replied “I don’t know.”

12 times a day you feared that you would bump into an upperclassman while running to lunch

Because those were the things we worried about at 12

Next comes the big 1-3

We’re all teenagers and completely untouchable

13 for the number of relationships you went through in a month

And for the 13 times your mom told you it was “their loss”

13 friends trying to squeeze at a 12 person lunch table and always feeling like the one left out

13 stories Mr. Knuth would share about his daughter in one class

And 13 for all the best friends in the whole world that you could never live without…13 times you found yourself without a friend

13 for the number of people you had to sit with on the way to Gettysburg when a bus broke down

And 13… beautiful 13…the age that officially “unofficially” ended your weird preteen phase…and for the 13 years more that it will unavoidably continue to last

14 is a killer…quite literally that we feared for our lives in the halls where 14 was thrown to the end of the line.

14 conversations with your relatives about finally being in high school

14 times a day you heard that it will go faster than you could ever believe and 14 times you shrugged it off because you still had way too much time to waste

14 homework assignments you had every night and a whopping total of 14 hours of sleep you got in 3 days because of those ever so necessary homework assignments.

14 days of Christmas break that you had to spend at home because you couldn’t drive anywhere yet

14 nights spent dreaming about the future because it was never something to be feared at that age

15 is the in between. No one really cares that you’re there, but still everyone would know if you were gone.

As Taylor Swift says, “Feeling like there’s nothing to figure out…” 15 times we told ourselves that Taylor Swift was dead wrong because we took everything way too seriously.

15: the year that you realized you were getting old because if you double your age, you are no longer in the 20’s

15 games spent at the top of the student section because you weren’t ready to be seen by the world yet and 15 times you convinced yourself, “the back is more fun anyways.”

15 nights in a row that you stayed up too late talking to someone who made you forget about sleeping and for the 15 days you wish you would have just slept.

16 is the ride or die year…well more like ride with me and you will die.

16 you can almost taste the future, but it’s still out of reach.

16 times you had to retake your driver’s test and 16 times it was because you just had a “bad instructor”

16 dresses that you tried on for prom, and 16 rehearsed promposals that you felt completely stupid doing all 16 times

16 hours spent on filling out the common app, just to find out how inadequate you look on paper

16 brochures you took home from the college fair telling yourself that you could go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone.

Finally, 17 is the year you’ve been waiting for. It’s here too soon, but it’s only the beginning of the end.

17: the year you spend dreaming to be 18 so you can finally…vote?

17 days left on your countdown before applications are due…and 17 weeks after that you decide your future.

17 times a day that you have to remind yourself to be realistic because dreams can only take you so far

The number of times you’ve decided to opt out of doing homework because you have a free period conveniently placed next day

17 sentences in Mr. Roache’s newspaper article because you gave up before you got to 20

17 minutes spent each class thinking about where you’ll be sitting that exact day one year from now

17 hours of the day spent wishing you were just graduated already or simply just wishing you had more time…to sleep

17 memories that you can pinpoint that could easily define your high school career…because it took 17 years to realize that looking back is a whole lot easier than dreaming for tomorrow, although the latter is what drives us forward

17 “best friends” that you had to go through just to find one…but teaching yourself that although people come and go, they all change us for the better

17 years in the making…and still having no idea what to do with our lives, but blindly making a decision anyways

17…freshmen fear us, sophomores bow down to us, and juniors want to be us

We are all dancing queens, young and sweet, only 17

So, even though I am no expert of all the numbers in the world,

Those six I know for certain

I have lived them alongside you

And even though some of us have embarked on the beautiful journey that is 18

No one knows it in full yet

What does it hold?

Where will it take us?

What is it actually like to go to the doctor’s office by yourself?

We’re all a part of this crazy time line

We’ve shaped it

Molded it

Broken it

And fixed it together

It’s ours to keep

And when we look back, we’ll know that we not only

Survived, but thrived together

In the best years of our lives