WESTMINSTER — Six lanes stretch before each runner, and 10 hurdles are positioned approximately 10 meters apart for the total of a 100-meter sprint, waiting for the starter to signal: on your mark, get set, go!
That exhilarating moment sets nerves wracking and fluttering, testing our patience, creating a slow progression and then he fires; we're off!
We want to accomplish the task in front of us and do so in the most efficient way possible. This challenge embodies everlasting motivation through trial and error, endless meets prior to the state competition, practicing, researching strategies and different techniques to enhance performance, and preparing for the future, for what comes next, for what happens after the gun!
From the day we stepped foot into the maze of Bellows Falls Union High School to the day we took our last final exam, our time as students has been our preparation, our pre-game, and this moment - our graduation - is our state championship. We're here, and everything we have experienced since we entered the doors of Bellows Falls Union high school is ours.
High school is a hurdle within itself, and with practice and time, we learn that it's easy to complain about its challenges; however, when it's over, we forget about the difficulty in hurdling over math exams and research papers. We must realize these challenges are never going to stop reappearing.
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We have all been nervous about something. What we seem to forget is the part where we lose ourselves in the moment we were nervous about once it starts.
However, not everything in life is a race; some things are a journey that's not going to stop. Looking back, we simply remember the glory of priceless moments. All of the time we have spent preparing and mentally fueling muscle memory along with training our bodies for what they need to do to perform has maximized results, leaving us standing here proud.
Even though the little steps seem irrelevant, when we finally place ourselves in the blocks waiting for the gun, we realize it was all done for a purpose, this purpose.
Growing up, we all try to picture ourselves in moments of our future. Moments like: making the varsity team or the lead in the play, the end of a school year that leads to a glorious summer, the state game, our junior prom, and graduation.
Yet, before we reach these checkpoints in our lives, we have to do the work involved in growing up, such as maintaining a fair attendance record, studying for exams, taking the tests, and writing, rewriting, and revising - but most importantly, trying to know how to act more mature even if we are having a hard time fully accepting maturity.
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I find that as an athlete in track, I anticipate the state championships and doing well in the 100-meter hurdles, anticipating a moment that is going to last for less than 20 seconds but that will be remembered for the rest of my life. If I didn't have all of the prior meets and practices, I wouldn't have had the passion for hurdles that I do now.
Moments like right now, here, as we look around, we see more than just students graduating. We see family.
We have walked to our classes together, called each other for help, grown and molded into this class, and every one of us has done the work, despite stressing over passing algebra II together.
This evening is the glorifying moment, where we acknowledge every hurdle we have jumped these past four years, knowing all the fun was in the preparation for arriving here rather than the actual process of sitting here.
This chapter of our lives will soon come to a close, but that doesn't mean we forget about every crazy memory that will keep us connected forever.