Thank you for helping me to grow

As I sat down and wrote my final column for the Herald, I can hear it. The ring of “Pomp and Circumstance” runs through my head as I collect my thoughts on what to write one last time. In less than one month from now, the music will be live. I will be walking to it, clad in cap and gown. My family will be watching me as I step up to get my Hewlett High School diploma in front of a massive audience.
Reflecting on my nearly 14 years as a student in the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, I rewind all the way back to pre-kindergarten. Although my memories are a bit shaky as I was just 4, I can vividly remember sitting in class playing with the baby ducklings that were just hatched.
Two years later, and I’m in first grade. I remember sitting at the commencement ceremony for us tiny 6-year-olds and listening to the principal speak about the class of 2015. How far away it seemed back in 2004, but, now, it is right around the corner. I remember my poetry festival in second grade at Ogden Elementary School, my fifth grade graduation, my first History Fair competition in the middle school, the first (and very frightening) day of high school and all of the triumphs and hardships in between.
Looking back, I could say with full confidence that I took full advantage of my surroundings. I enriched myself through anything that interested me. I remember looking back to the end of junior year when I found out I was selected to be one of the editors of our school paper, Spectrum, becoming president of Students Against Destructive Decisions and having the opportunity to write for the Herald for two years. I look back at my first homecoming parade, spirit week, pep rally, and, of course, getting to march in the Electric Light Parade as a freshman in the band.
All of these opportunities and experiences have helped shaped me into the person I am today. The timid, confused caterpillar that once entered the halls of Hewlett High now leaves the very same halls as a unique and determined butterfly.

For all of my teachers throughout the many years, my advisors and my guidance counselor — thank you. You have all inspired me, supported me and gave me the courage to go ahead, despite whatever odds, with full-force, intelligence and confidence.
As I continue on with my education as an aspiring journalist at the Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University,
I will cherish and take with me my time as a proud student (and soon-to-be-alumna) of District 14. So let “Pomp and Circumstance” play on, as I say farewell to my life as a Hewlett High School student and begin my new life as a university student.