Senior Reflection: A Bittersweet End and Beginning

By Anushka Rajmohan

In just a few short days, the life that I have known for my entire conscious existence will end. Not just with my time at North, but my whole childhood spent in Newtown: the days walking around town, the afternoons at Starbucks and Rita’s, the countless evenings spent at Tyler State Park and the nights in small restaurants in town--all of it coming to an end as I walk with my peers at graduation on June 10th. 
 
As I am awaiting this day, naturally I feel the need to reminisce on my time in this community, especially on those who have nurtured the minds of numerous students. Although this time in my youth could never be replaced, it is inevitable that I will find similar replacements in my future: new restaurants for dinners, bigger parks to spend my afternoons, and a brand new town to wander during the days. Life is like this, mere stages in which I will have to live and from which I will move on when it is time. 
 
Even so, one aspect of each stage that cannot be replaced is the people, each of them a unique formation of nucleotides. Because of this, I believe I can rightfully attribute all my confidence, accomplishments, and growth to the people of the North community, which encompasses my peers, my teachers, and everyone I have had the pleasure of interacting with in these past four years. 
 
As the name implies, teachers are meant to teach, to help kids learn information that will push them towards a brighter future. If they are able to accomplish just this, making sure that their students learn what they need to, the teachers have accomplished their jobs. However, the teachers I have encountered did not do this; these teachers went beyond their fixed jobs. These teachers not only taught both my peers and me the curriculum, but they also taught us the importance of thinking. 
 
Instead of teaching us how to think and what to think about it, my teachers showed us the freedom to think about matters and opinions that we want to rather than just what society wants us to believe. Though I do not remember every grammar rule in existence or the exact dates of war, I do have the ability to analyze a given article and offer my opinion on an important historical event. Thanks to my North teachers, I am more than just a robot reciting the curriculum but a real human being who can express her own thoughts and opinions. 
 
This North community is also made up of my peers, some of whom I have only encountered once throughout my time at North and others who have become cherished friends that hopefully will be with me even after we walk across the field, decked out in our blue and white attires. 
 
Since high school occurs during a time when we start to discover for ourselves and our own developing morals what the meanings of “good” and “bad” in the world are, the people around us are incredibly impactful in these years. Such an empathetic, open-minded and diverse group of people is a leading cause of the way I am today; my interests, my hopes and dreams, my outlook on the world, and much more have been influenced, positively too I believe,  by my friends.
 
When I was first introduced to the horrors of the world and sadness and grief that life is made of, the people around me revealed the other side of this: the joy in simple moments, the warmth from hugs and the love that bonds so many people together. For this, I am grateful because without knowing the duality of life, could I have been stuck in a constant state of misery, looking at our world as just something to live on rather than thrive and blossom in? I do not know the answer to that question, but I do know that the colorful lens with which I look at life, filled with greens, yellows, pinks and blues, greys and blacks, is a privilege that I am thankful to have.  
 
Reflecting on these people and my experiences at North, I obviously have mixed feelings. Because of my time at North, I feel prepared for the great beyond. More than prepared, I feel as though I can handle the challenges thrown at me because of the way I have been nurtured and taught in this community. However, there is a bittersweetness in this: although I have been waiting for the time when I could expand my horizons in college, it is sad to have to leave this place of familiarity, comfort and warmth. 
 
In a scary world full of strife and confusion, North has been a nurturing home that I am sad to leave. As prom and the senior trip have all come to an end, the conclusion of our four years here seems much more real now, especially with graduation quickly approaching. Even so, I am certain that as my peers and I all venture off to different colleges and futures, Council Rock North will be the root from which we have branched off and will nourish us well into our futures. 

---