"I don't think that being a strong person is about ignoring your emotions and fighting your feelings. Putting on a brave face doesn't mean you're a brave person. That's why everybody in my life knows everything that I'm going through. I can't hide anything from them. People need to realise that being open isn't the same as being weak."

- Taylor Swift

Friday, October 26, 2012

To the Class of 2012

Now Playing: Change by Taylor Swift (these walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down, it's a revolution, the time has come for us to finally win, and we'll sing hallelujah)

To the Perth Modern School Class of 2012,

What can you say after four years of euphoric highs and crushing lows?

I'll never forget my first year nine English class. There I was, a shy, awkward little twelve year old, sitting quietly in a class half way through Term One, silently wishing I could disappear into the heavy books dumped on my desk even though His Dark Materials was possibly the most boring book trilogy in existence. I remember the curious stares, the confused mutters and bemused whispers, and all the questions. But what I remember the most was the smiles and the kindness. I'll never forget how nice people were to the year eight gatecrasher.

It wasn't always easy, being the year eight in year nine, spending two years in limbo and then struggling to fit in for the last two years. I wish I had been there with you from the beginning. Sometimes it was hard knowing that I didn't really fit in and I didn't really belong. I won't lie - not all of you were nice to me, and high school for me wasn't always sunshine and rainbows. There were lots of misunderstandings and rumours. But I've had the time of my life with you, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I've made lifelong friends and you have taught me everything I know. High school isn't exactly a walk in the park and I sincerely hope that they weren't 'the best years of my life', but the ups and down of the rollercoaster were never boring. Thank you for making high school amazing. I love you all to the moon and back.

I apologise if I ever came off as insecure or annoying or arrogant. We've all had to battle our own demons, and I had my fair share. I've always been an ambitious, proud sort of person and I'm not going to apologise for that. I never meant to offend or insult or hurt anybody, and I apologise if I ever gave that impression.

Dearest Belephant, I love you muchos. Thank you for being an amazing punkasaur. Thank you for putting up with all my boy troubles and incessant whinging and circular trains of thought. Thank you for putting up with my crude humour and pointless debates. Thank you for all the fun times. Thank you for all the laughter from school to Warwick. You're so pretty and smart and nice and talented and amazing and wonderful and life will be beautiful, I promise, and I'll always be there for you. I love your smile and your eyes and your laugh and your ever changing hair and your demented fingernail. Thank you for keeping my secrets when no-one else seemed capable of keeping their mouth shut. You're the best lit/history buddy anyone could ever ask for, even if you did ditch me in Politics and left me on my own to face the sheer terror of the ever pedantic and stupidly idiosyncratic details of the Washminster system. Thank you for speaking up for me and sticking with me when times got tough.

오빠. I don't think anyone's had a weirder or stranger or more unorthodox relationship than you and I. I don't think anyone's made me laugh or cry more than you have. You're an asshole, you know. You drive me completely crazy. But you're the best friend I've ever had and I will always love you dearly, no matter what. I love all our late night talks and all the laughter in advocacy. I love how you always smile at me and I love your big bear hugs. I love how you never ever ever listen to anything I say. I love you for making me fearless, for making me believe in myself, for being there when things all got too much and I wanted to give up. Thank you for letting me cry on you and scream at you. Thank you for being my court jester and my best friend. Thank you for all the great times and the precious memories. The rumours and misunderstandings were hard and I know it isn't easy being my friend, but I couldn't have made it through this year without you. It hasn't always been easy and there have been way too many times that I had enough and wanted out, but I think you and I can make it through anything. I love you to the moon and back. Stay beautiful.

I admit I only realized how wonderful you all are at the dinner dance two nights ago. In the last hour I'm sure some of you saw me suddenly dive to the dumps and I'm sorry if I freaked you out - I was very high and excited and after the adrenalin rush there is always the crash, and I was tired and stressed and hormonal and my feet were killing me. But I still had the time of my life on the night of nights, I promise. But I realized that no where else would I find a better group of people, and there was no one else I wanted to be graduating with but with you. I realized that for all our fights, for all the outbursts and tantrums and hormonal craziness, we're all family, and I love you all dearly. I realized how beautiful you all were even when we were a sweaty screaming mass of stilettos and tuxes and smudged mascara. That's how much I love you.  

To the Class of 2012, I'll miss you all. I'll try and stay in touch as much as I can and I'm sure I'll see lots of you next year at uni. Good luck on exams and life and love and everything. It's only just beginning and I can't tell you how excited I am. YOWO and YOLO and all of that. ILY.

Long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. One day we will be remembered.

Stay beautiful,
Lady Solitaire

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