This last Friday, June 10th 2011, I officially became a Flagstaff High School Graduate. Surprisingly, not many emotions were involved. Although I don't think I'm quite ready to move out of my house, I am certainly ready to be done with high school. It was strange to sit through the ceremony and think, "These are the kids I have been with for the last four years, and some of them, I've been with since I first moved to Flagstaff. THIS is the last time we will all be together. Sure, there will be reunions, but not everyone will be there like we are now. Some of them, I will remain in contact with, but others, this will be the LAST time we will be together". And that, in a sense was a little bit sad to me. 
Well, here we are. Finally the day has arrived that we’ve all been anticipating for about four years. Today marks the end of our journey together, class of 2011. But as we prepare to spread our wings and go our separate ways... Let’s review our last few years at Flag High.
Four years ago we walked through the doors of Flagstaff High School as little freshmen with no idea what we were doing. We were eager to find our identity, or possibly to create a new one. We finally felt like "big kids". We were terrified of the seniors, and made sure to stay out of their way. We had no idea where the 400 hall was, or which teachers were not pleasantly placed on our schedules. We opened our lockers for the first time, and went to our first high school dances.
Three years ago we walked through the doors of Flagstaff High School, thinking we owned the place. We weren't the babies on campus anymore. We were sophomores who "made the world go ‘round" We were no longer intimidated by the upperclassmen. We still desperately tried to be the "top dogs" and were eager for the day that we finally were. Some of us got our licenses. We went out on weekends, thinking we were too mature for those school dances.
Two years ago we walked through the doors of Flagstaff High School as juniors. We flaunted it like the upperclassmen that we finally were. We began to realize how fast time flies by. We learned who our true friends were and laughed as we made timeless memories together. We watched as our school began to undergo the several months of construction it was about to endure. Our “Officials” DOMINATED the infamous M&M dodgeball team. We started thinking about college, even though it still seemed like it was 10 years away. We participated in Varsity sports and went to prom.
This year we walked through the doors of Flagstaff High School as SENIORS, and with a bit of an adjustment for some of us, we walked through those doors as an Eagle for the very first time. We used the “senior card” and sported our camo any chance we had. We experienced all of those “lasts”. Our last sports camps, our last FIRST day of high school, our last pep assembly, our last ever so memorable football game against Coconino. We made our plans for the future and realized that we won’t have mom to do our laundry and cook us dinner next semester. We shared laughs and we shared tears. We wrote noble words to one another in our yearbooks and said our temporary goodbyes. WE made this year the best one yet and we loved every moment of it.
NEXT YEAR, and for all the years to come, we will forever look back on these years as the best years of our lives. Thank you, Senior class, for all the memories and friends we’ve made on this journey together. Congratulations, and long live the Class of 2011.
