It’s hard to believe that senior year is coming to a close. For months, we’ve counted down the days, planned the events, and imagined life beyond the walls of our school. Now, with only days left, everything is happening at once—fast, exciting, and impossible to pause.
Graduation is just around the corner. Seniors are preparing their caps and gowns, practicing their walks across the stage, and taking in the realization that we’re leaving this place behind. Before the big day, we’ll have graduation practice—a moment that makes it all feel real. It’s the rehearsal of a goodbye, the quiet before the applause.
Our class photo in caps and gowns will capture a single second of everything we’ve become in four years. One photo, dozens of stories. We’ll be standing side by side, but each of us will be carrying different memories of what it meant to grow up here.
Baccalaureate will bring a more reflective tone. It’s not just about accomplishment—it’s about the values we’ve built along the way. It’s the time to pause and give thanks, to look back and look up, to honor the personal growth that doesn’t always make it into the transcripts.
And then there’s Honors Night, a proud evening where scholarships and hard work are recognized. Families beam, teachers nod knowingly, and students hear their names called for the work that often happened when no one was watching. It’s a celebration of discipline, goals, and grit.
Before we go our separate ways, we’ll have one more carefree escape—our senior trip to Six Flags. Just one more chance to laugh, scream on rollercoasters, and maybe forget that we’re about to say goodbye. A final ride, quite literally.
This semester, we’ve also been living in the chaos and suspense of Senior Assassin. Water guns, alliances, paranoia—it’s the game that has somehow bonded us all, even as we plot against each other. “I check my back every time I walk outside,” senior Clarissa Buckles said. “But honestly? It’s been the most fun I’ve had all year.”
And while the future is exciting, we’ve already made memories we’ll never get back. Senior Sunrise, hosted last semester, was a quiet start to our final journey—a time when we all sat together, wrapped in blankets, watching the first light of our last year. Senior Chloe Keen said, “That morning felt different. Like we were finally seeing the beginning of the end.”
The class hosted a Senior Skip Day at Canon Park with food and games. “It felt like we were taking a break from everything—school, stress, expectations. Just being together,” senior Alyssa Nausley said.
As we move into our final week, it’s hitting us just how little time is left. These moments—these people—will be scattered by next week. Some of us will stay close. Some of us will leave the state, even the country. And some connections we may never get back.
Senior Deanna Overturf summed it up best: “It’s crazy how something that felt so permanent is just… ending. Like, we won’t walk these halls again. That part of our life is officially over.”
So we take the photos. We go to the events. We show up for one another one last time. Because this isn’t just the end of senior year—it’s the end of something we’ve known for most of our lives. And once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Next week, we walk out as seniors. The week after, we walk out of Carterville High School as adults.
