On June 13th at 7 PM, the caps will be thrown into the sky and the Class of 2018’s lives will never be the same. Through these past 13 years it has always been the same daily ritual of waking up and seeing the same faces in the hallways every day at school.

Whether it may be Matt Stavalone clapping and screaming in the hallway, “Okay Liam!” or just a simple glance towards my direction, most of these people I will sadly not be able to see ever again. At the start of my freshman year, when I was sitting next to Mike Graff and Matt Stavalone in Mr. Angelini’s 11th Period Environmental Science class, Mr. Angelini said something to me and my classmates that really struck me that I have never forgotten. “Make these years count because you will be graduating before you know it.”

These words that Mr. Angelini spoke that day could not have been truer because time has flown so fast right before my eyes that I never really noticed the person that I have become and all of the great people that I have come in contact with over the years.

High school is a time to embark on change and be different. Through being different, I have met some of my best friends over the years. To my close friends, you know who you are, I am confident that you will all be successful in the career path you choose and I cannot thank you enough for sticking by my side and having my back. We taught each other things that we could never learn from books. If I have one piece of advice to any fellow classmate at Cinnaminson High School, it is to get involved.

Sophomore year was a year of meeting a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds. During wrestling season because of my weight class, I had met one of my good friends currently, Eren Baysal. Eren was a kid that I was unsure of my freshmen year and I never really got a chance to get to know him. Through three years of being my wrestling partner, I got to learn a lot more about him and I met a person who not only made me a better wrestler, but a better person. I am glad that we became such good friend. Another person that I met through wrestling was Jahmil Williams.  Although Jahmil moved here in the 8th grade, I did not speak to him much at all until sophomore year. Being friends with Jahmi has inspired me to have a good work ethic and train extremely hard to be victorious in all I do. During lacrosse season, in my sophomore year, I met one individual who struck me as odd, but turned out to being one of my closest friends. J.T. Holt is a kid who although knows how to weird me out at all times and who can always make me laugh and he can talk to you about anything. Through playing all of the same sports as I do, I can say that J.T. is a person whom I barely knew at the start of high school and he is now a really good friend.

Also, to all of my advanced sculpture friends, although art was never my strong suit, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for making it so enjoyable. Regardless of what you guys say, Haley’s coffin will never be better than my snail. Last, but certainly not least, I met a person at the start of my freshmen year in CP Geometry. I met a kid I barely talked to and I saw him as an annoying freshmen. Through being in the same classes and getting to know him a lot more I can say that Matt Stavalone is a person who will be successful. He has become a person to whom I can naturally go to and relate. Through getting to know him I can say he is a kid I will truly miss seeing every day in the hallway or in Mr. Kind’s second period Journalism class. Matt, just know Mr. Kind is the Man in the iron mask.

I have met a ton of great people these sports and clubs have taught me lessons that I will carry on later in life. Through football, I learned a lot about the rewards of teamwork. Wrestling taught me grit and how to work hard. Through lacrosse, I had become a leader and I learned how to be charismatic. Interact and SADD made me become a more responsible and dependable person. Journalism trained me into being very outgoing and taught me how to express myself through writing. Getting involved can only help you out as a person by getting to meet new people, look what it has done for me.

During high school, there was arguably many different times where adversity hit me as a student. High School was a time that I was not always going to pass every quiz or test. During these rough times, I would try and work even harder so I would do well in each course. There were a lot of different classes and moments that tested who I was as a student. There was were a lot of different classes that had a lot of work, but they helped me in the end. Period 6/7 Honors Precalculus and Trig and 10th Period World Literature were the two classes that had a lot of work and it did not hit me until later that all of this hard work would only benefit me in the long run. Although I failed a couple times in these classes, the setbacks encouraged me to work harder and to get the grades I deserved. I woke up early to go to math help nearly every morning or stayed up late at night to give three examples using textual evidence to any literature question. Through all of this work, I was fortunate enough to finish with an A average in both classes by the end of the school year. Needless to say, if you are ever struggling, do not be afraid to ask your teacher for help because teachers want to be sure you know the information and learn the material for your next step in high school or beyond. So to all underclassmen, if you work hard, you can achieve anything.

Senior year is a time where you will want to capture a lot of moments with all of your close friends before you leave for college. In August, I had the idea of recording a bunch of different memories with my GoPro so that I could make these memories seem endless; but now the end is near. Playing varsity football was an animal unlike any other and playing under the lights on Friday nights with my teammates was surreal. During this time, ending West Deptford’s 18-game win streak was one of the greatest games I will ever be part of and I still remember like it was yesterday rushing the field with my teammates in one of the biggest upsets in South Jersey. During the fall, Spirit Week was a remarkable time of seeing classes come together in hopes beat the opposing grades. During sign-ups for the Pep Rally, I decided I wanted to sign up for something my senior year. I ended up signing up for the Sharpen the Sword Team, although I had absolutely no idea what this event held, it sounded like a lot of fun. The Pep Rally as a senior was a great time, as it was one of the firsts of many lasts in high school. It was easy to say that the Class of 2018 was dominant in a lot of events. (Shout out to my Sharpen the Sword Team, no would could even compete at our level) Wanting to try new and different things, I had also decided to sign up for the Haunted Walk. Not knowing what I got myself into was a little uncomfortable at first but I learned that scaring a bunch of different people was a fun and great time.

The winter was always a tough time for me personally because that had meant it was wrestling season. Not only did I have to cut weight, but I also had to listen to Mr. McConnell’s long speeches before and after every practice and match. I actually remember the time where I won the Nottingham Invitational Tournament and he rambled on for 15 minutes about how I could have wrestled a better match. Wrestling was always a mentally tough sport for me, but it led me to doing well under pressure, and I always wanted to help out the team. Later at the end of the season I had a very bad ankle injury, and I was recommended to not wrestle for the remainder of the year. One thing on my mind was that we had Delran in four days and the division title was up for grabs, so, despite the fact that I could only use one foot, I went out there and gave it my all. Luckily, I had won that match 6-2 to help my team defeat Delran by a score of 36-33. And to those of you wondering, we have now been holding the division for four years straight.

Teachers I believe are the most influential mentors in life. There are a few teachers that have left a lasting impression on me in my mind. To Mrs. Arbelaez, thank you for for always coming in early whenever I was having trouble in Calculus the day before. Mr. Kind thank you for always being there when I needed guidance. Mr. Campbell thank you for never giving up on me during football season on the offensive line you were the key contributor to all of my success. To upcoming seniors I highly recommend going on the senior trip. The senior trip brings you and your friends very close together one last time before you guys are off to college. I will not forget all the sing-a-longs or even just having a toss on the football field. One memory that will stick out is when my entire grade created a whirlpool and began to splash the water everywhere to start making a huge mess, causing the lifeguards to tell us to stop. This did not make my class stop, it actually made us cause an even bigger disruption, this was a time seeing everyone in our grade be as one and be together.

Lacrosse season was a time that showed a lot of effort into making this team victorious. After going 3-13 both my freshmen and sophomore years, I would have never believed that we would go 10-7 my senior year with make it into the playoffs for the second consecutive year. This team goes to show if you work hard you can achieve a lot of different goals.

Outside of school there were a lot of different experiences that were always the normal things during high school that will sadly be coming to an end very soon. It doesn’t matter if it was wing night at Whistler’s, late night cars jams on the rides home on the weekends, bonfires in the woods, or even just hanging out and being with your friends. These are some of the most important times that will last a lifetime in our memory. Through all the great memories, laughs, and tears in our high school career these will be some of the greatest times in our life. Together we have helped one another to reach the end of this most memorable phase of our lives, high school. Although it is now time for us to move on, and have new adventures, this time and these friends will always remain with us.

Dr. Seuss captured it perfectly when he said, “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”