Graduation is a time of joy and relief, as well as a time of fear and uncertainty.
The three years of high school are more exciting than middle school or elementary school, because it is in high school that we really grow up. I recall the day of my middle school graduation. I was dressed in a suit and tie for the very first time in my life, but I was still playing silly pranks with my schoolmates that amused my teacher, who wondered when we would ever grow up.
And now, here we are, about to graduate in two days. We have finally grown up, or at least we feel this way.
In high school, I came to appreciate the wonders of science and the beauty of literature. We have spent countless hours on the sports field as well as in the classroom. We poured our energies into all the things that we loved, from drama to dance, from basketball to ping pong, from lectures to parties.
Even though everyone is aware that there are those who will be deemed unsuccessful by a single test score—the Gaokao, I must argue that no student is a loser. Everyone grew up in a distinct way; everyone achieved something that they are proud of; everyone sets himself up for future success.
However, this optimism is based on the premise that it is high school itself that ensured our development and triumph. That’s why leaving this cocoon brings fear and uncertainty for me, and my classmates.
At this point, I am sure that I will lose something after I move onto college, but I am uncertain about what exactly it is. Maybe I will lose those who are always behind me when I blunder, maybe I will lose those dreams that I once believed in, or I will lose my naïveté. I have heard of other people talk about what lies ahead and try hard to imagine what they are describing, but two days before graduating, it is difficult to look ahead.
When I look back over the past few years, I feel blessed by everything that I had. But it is only upon graduation that I realize the halcyon days of high school were actually a mixed blessing. For many of us, high school is a place where mistakes are tolerated. We only learn from mistakes; we do not get punished. Whenever we hit the ground, there was always someone or something that got us back on our feet again. After graduation, will our mistakes be tolerated?
So with these and many other doubts my classmates and I are graduating from high school. But optimistic as I always am, I love to use a piece of lyric by SHM to assure anyone who is worried two days before graduation: “Don’t you worry, don’t you worry, child. See heaven’s got a plan for you!” In fact, heaven may have a good plan for everyone, and as long as we try our best, the good plan is likely to work out. Two days until graduation, in this plan I trust.