News Detail - Zebra Tales

A Rocky Ending

The last couple weeks of spring term were a mixture of sweet and bitter, eventful and boring, gain and loss. As a Fifth Former, this past school year was unique in that the graduating class was just one year above me—a form with whom I’ve shared three years on the Circle and with whom I’ve created countless friendships and memories.
On Groton’s annual Prize Day, I watched as my friends walked up the stairs, shook hands with Mr. Maqubela, and proudly raised their diplomas. Until that moment, I don’t think it really ever hit me that these people—people I’ve spent Saturday nights with eating Korean food, people I’ve subconsciously drifted toward when I need advice or just a break from work, people who have become such an important part of my life—were about to go their separate ways. As I made my way through the handshake line, it was clear that the letters I wrote, our “good luck's" and the “miss you's" were woefully insufficient. Seniors who I didn’t think were capable of emotion were crying as they hugged their classmates goodbye. Even after reaching the end of the handshake line, I stayed for as long as I could during what I knew would be my final moments with the graduating class, attempting to think of a suitable goodbye, but nothing seemed enough. As I walked away from Form of 2022, and in the hours and days that followed, I felt an emptiness—in the disturbing quiet of the library normally filled with seniors, in the bare hallways, in the vacant Dining Hall senior section, and in myself, when a group of people whom I’ve grown to rely on suddenly disappears.

As my own form gradually began to take over the senior sections, it felt wrong sitting in the plush library couches, or on the elevated stage in the dining hall. It dawned on me that very soon, or maybe it's already started, we would be seniors. We would be the ones other students look up to for advice and inspiration—which is something I still don’t know if I’m ready for.

And while I’ll miss the Form of 2022, the Form of '23 will do our best to carry on their legacy. To make sure this post doesn’t end on a completely depressing note, I enjoyed a relaxing, class- and exam-free finals week by going rock climbing with friends! Fun!
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