“O-M-G, everybody, the time is here! It’s the seniors’ last first article for our last first full week of school! The tears are flowing; it’s basically a tsunami in the hallways.” That’s how I started my Last First Article this year, and it looks like that’s how I’m starting my Last First Last Article as well. Graduation is just around the corner, literally, and everyone has mixed emotions. The bittersweet feeling of moving on to the unknown is swelling up in the stomachs of the 2026 seniors. Personally, I am not excited for college. I can not imagine anything better than being surrounded by my closest friends for 8 to 14 hours a day, 5 days a week. I know many disagree with this and are chomping at the bit to move on, but I have a feeling that as time passes, more and more of us will miss these days.
On a more positive note, my senior year has been filled with many great, or at least interesting, memories. When I think of the past months, I think of the internet. I think of 6-7 and GTA 6 and Tung Tung Tung Sahur, now referred to as The Triple T. Although this seems like a list of nonsensical terms, these online jokes are time markers. To me, they are reminders of where we have been and where we are going. As time passes, new online trends come and go, and in a digital world, it is vital that we remember this new form of historical content. I doubt we will ever forget Barbenheimer or streamers doing backflips on Twitch (a popular live-streaming service/platform). Now, I do not want this article to be overly sappy or some sage advice column because, truthfully, high school is so different for everyone. I can not tell you what to expect nor describe what I experienced because it would not be fair. I just wanted to take the chance to thank everyone, every single person, good and bad, whom I have met over the past 4 years. My high school experience was unforgettable to say the least. I hope everyone else’s was too because although speaking in high school is frowned upon, enjoying it and remembering these years fondly with a longing to go back is not.
Basically, I am asking you, the reader, to take nothing for granted because it will be gone in the blink of an eye. Looking on the bright side is hard, but it will only become easier as you realize how monumental and formative this time is. There is simply no place like high school, especially Dover High School. After tomorrow, I will no longer be a member of several clubs and a multi-sport athlete; I will be only who I am underneath it all. We all will. The Class of 2026 is ending a chapter and starting anew, as we move on physically, our hearts will always be here, filled with Tornado Pride, while we carry what these walls taught us through life.
