I will not miss the sound of awkward, oversized shoes scraping across the ground. I will not miss the nauseating aroma of "fruity-tootie" mixed with sweat after the freshmen PE classes. I will not miss the drama, the ungratefull students, the stress. I will not miss the closed campus, the dress code, the ridiculous Dean of Students.

It's all worn me down, and I've been so tired for a long time now. I have grown old and cranky in the way life has moved. My life slowly stitched itself in the beginning, when high school had been exciting.

But the ends of my thread have slowly become frayed. It's been time to move on for a long time now. High school has proven to be too much of a routine, and putting up with it all is too much for me.

Life is just around the corner. I am not afraid.

The diploma is still fresh and crisp, the foil lettering still shining. Brother James' signature hasn't yet browned, and the date still enboldens itself in my eyes. The binding of the leather book in which it lays is still strong in its own elasticity.

I am refreshed.

The paper-proof, the piece of tree that I've worked for so long to obtain, may grow old and sun-dyed. It may crinkle with time, and it may lose that glittering sheen. But it is the entry to life. Life is not a routine.

I am renewed.