It’s been awhile since I have written for The Prowl and boy have I missed it.

It honestly seems like yesterday I was saying, “See you soon,” and “This isn’t goodbye” to the class and classmates who made school feel like home.

I decided to come back and express how much the support from the ones who love you really affects your success and progress and also make my true, final statement to the best thing that has ever happened to me.

My high school career is basically over. In less than a month, I will throw my cap into the air and will walk out the doors of Chapman as Chapman alumna.

I honestly never took the time to sit back and realize what I had in front of me until I was basically forced to.

This semester has been a complete wake up call. It was my first semester off the staff since freshman year, which also means that it was my first semester in three years that I haven’t had the daily support and talks with some of the people I hold so close to my heart. Some of the people I will forever consider my family.

I never realized how much just daily chats and support affect my day-to-day mood.

It came honestly as a complete shock when I realized how much I missed not being able to talk with all of them, have continuous debates and express my feelings in ways only writers with a passion for putting a pencil to paper will understand.

Don’t get me wrong, I knew I would miss them, but I never imagined to the extent to which I have this semester. I guess only people on the staff will completely understand what I mean, right?

Right now, I feel blessed beyond measures, but this moment is bittersweet.

Like I mentioned earlier, my high school career is ending in a matter of days, and I don’t know how to feel. I feel so blessed to have truly had the most memorable years and the best learning experiences (even when I wanted to pull my hair out from stress and drop out of calculus).

With that positivity, though, comes the feeling of fear.

In just a few short months I will be embarking on a completely new journey, one that I am beyond excited for, but that admittedly terrifies me.

Chapman has been my home for four years now ,and no matter how many times I say that I am ready to graduate or count down the days to graduation, I know it won’t be long before I am wishing to walk down the 300 hallway, all the way to the end, and then take a right, straight into the room I have became so familiar with. I guess I could say that that one classroom has been more like home away from home for me.

It’s the room where we shared our passion for writing, where I cried tears of joy and tears of sadness, where I gained support during all obstacles life has thrown my way, where I laughed until I cried, where I hugged my friends when life got hard, and most importantly, where I met one teacher who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. The classroom who held people that changed my life forever.

As I conclude my final statement as a Chapman High School senior, I just want to say thank you again to the people who made my high school career one I will never forget.

Dr. Timmons, you have completely changed my life for the better. You are the one teacher you believed in me, pushed me to become better in all areas of life, and showed me support no matter the decision. I consider myself forever blessed to have had you as not only an adviser but also as a role model through life.

Thank you for being the support I needed and a father figure during the most important years of my life. I know my dad is looking down and thanking you from Heaven as well. Don’t miss me too much and I’ll try not the do the same. You’ll never know how completely thankful I am for you and everything you’ve done for me.

To my Prowl family, I am so proud of you and the people each one of you has become. This semester has been one of the hardest yet, and I missed each and every one of y’all every single day.

There hasn’t been a day that I didn’t check online and see what y’all were up to, though. As the year ends and a new one begins, never forget how capable you are of anything you set your mind to. Keep faith and remember that life may be hard, but strength comes from within and you have all you’ll ever need. I love each and every one of you.

My time at Chapman High School may be close to over, but I feel so completely lucky to have been a part of a class who never ceased to amaze me or make me realize how blessed I truly am. Through the lessons, the tears, the laughs and the memories, I know that whenever I think back to my high school years, The Prowl will be the one thing that will bring a smile to my face.

I love you. Thank you.

Kinzie Sellar was the managing editor of The Prowl in spring 2015 and served as editor from September 2015 to December 2016.