Editor’s note: Senior goodbye columns reflect on senior staffers’ experiences through high school and allow them an opportunity to share what they have learned with the school. Each senior Red Ledger staffer presents his or her personal perspective. One staffer’s column will be posted every day until all are published.

I never imagined that one day I would wake up and think, “I miss 7 a.m. practices.”

But here I am, 16 days from graduation, and I have begun to realize what I will be leaving behind when I turn that tassel. All throughout high school, we spend our days running towards that graduation date, impatiently waiting for when we no longer spend eight hours in school hallways. But as the clock is ticking down, a part of me doesn’t want to leave.

I moved to Texas in the middle of my junior year last year, and to say that was a major change in my life is an understatement. My dad got a promotion that moved him here, and while I had the option to finish out my high school career in Mississippi, I felt a calling to take a leap and move 500 miles during the most stressful point in junior year. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit scared, but I was still extremely excited.

Eager for a new school, new hallways, new schedule, new daily routine. I’d spent most my life in the southern towns of Mississippi and I wanted a different atmosphere. This school has given me that and so much more.

I spent a part of the summer and every morning before school with a team of 20 girls, kicking by their side as the sun rose. Even though it felt miserable dancing on the football field in 50 degree weather during the early mornings of football season, now I look back and smile on my time with the Majestics. The bond I have made with each girl is one I will hold onto forever.

I also spent my first year on a newspaper staff this year and have written more this year than I ever thought I would. Having the opportunity to work with other students, hear about a part of their life, and get to write it for others to read is an amazing process. It also leads to an insane amount of contacts added into your phone.

Being a part of The Red Ledger is like having a second family. I love each Friday that we spend talking about our week, eating food out of the snack cabinet, and working with each other to write stories.

All of the memories and experiences I have had at Lovejoy are hard to say goodbye to. But if there’s anything I learned from moving to Texas, it’s that whatever follows will be just as fantastic. I used to be very hesitant towards starting new and leaving behind something that makes me so happy. However, I’ve traveled back to Mississippi several times this past year, and know I will return to Lovejoy just as much in the future.

I am eager to continue to college and start building who I plan to be in my life. Even though there will still be moments when I miss the cold morning practices and the weekly story idea assignments in Red Ledger, college will offer so many new moments to treasure. I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be two years ago, because I have a better understanding of how good change can be. If transferring at the end of high school can become the best decision of my life, who’s to say the change you’ve been worrying about won’t do the same for you?

Don’t be afraid to take a risk in life or try something that scares you. It’s how you discover who you truly are. Yes, continue to count down to that graduation day because it is a happy mark in the calendar. Hold on to what you will be leaving behind when that day does come. But don’t let anything hold you back.

As I take my diploma and walk across that stage, I’ll be saying a thank you to everyone and everything that brought me to that moment. I won’t be stressing about the future or that I don’t know what will happen in college, because I know change is good, and sometimes you just have to go with the flow.