The last weeks of school become sadder and sadder as a person grows up each year. When we were younger, summer break meant “See you next year.” Now, as we have entered a time packed to the brim with change, each summer break brings us closer and closer to “Goodbye.”

Every school year begins with new and old people entering and leaving your life, but one of the most noteworthy feelings is the essence of loss. There will never be the same group of people around you as there was the year before. When August begins and school starts back up, there will be the same number of people as before, but it still feels like there is something missing everywhere you go.

Once the last bell rings, at least a fourth of the school will be veering onto a new path. That fact is a beautiful part of growing up, but it can be scary for both those leaving and those left behind. 

Sometimes it feels like you have to get rid of some parts of your life to make room for new ones, like you have to move on instead of forward. This is the case in a lot of situations, but not all of them. You can still hold on to what you want to hold on to, just as you can let go of what you want to let go of.

That is one of the scariest parts about growing up; knowing that you have to move past the good and bad in your life and hope that what you move towards makes up for what you have given up. Going from a scared teenager that wants to hold onto the present, to an adult that is content being grown up is an unfathomable transition, but that is how it all progresses. Eventually, fear turns into contentment.

Saying goodbye to what you know is hard and saying hello to the unknown is scary. Growing up is difficult but so is staying young. Life is always going to change; all that we can do is change with it. 

Leaving is uncomfortable, but the memories that have been made will last forever. Hold onto all the times you smiled with the people you love. The laughs you had with your family. The last time you went to your best friend’s childhood home. Everything will come to an end at some point, but that does not mean that the joy or lessons these experiences brought you have to end with it.