Goodbye from The Griffin Rites

To the Class of 2018,

There’s a lot of definitions for the word “color.” In fact, according to Merriam Webster there are 15. But let us start with just number one: “A phenomenon of light or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects.” 

Well, this class certainly is a phenomenon, and a bright one at that. Each of you is different, and each of you has brought something new and unique to this school. Thank you for that. We live in a world with seven and a half billion people, a world where it is pretty easy to get lost in the crowd and to fade into the background, but this senior class has done anything but fade. Each of you has grown exponentially since you first walked through these doors, and we have no doubt that each of you will continue to grow after you walk out of them for the last time. 

The cover this issue is a picture from the first home football game of the season, the first time many of you sat on the senior wall. The theme for that game was neon, and we think it was pretty fitting considering just how colorful and bright you all are. 

Perhaps it’s a little bit incorrect to have called this letter a goodbye; knowing this senior class, we will all be seeing your impacts for years to come. Whether you go off to become our doctors or our archeologists, or mechanics or our teachers, or maybe our inspirations, good luck friends. 

There is a quote from A.A Milne in Winnie the Pooh that our staff feels represents this year ending, and it goes something like this: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” We will miss you class of 2018, and we will remember you too, but most of all, we will believe in you and your ability to forever bring color wherever you go.

There is a certain eloquence to a grayscale, to the black and white pictures of the past; but the class of 2018 is not the past, you are the future. Keep your color, your vibrance, your vivaciousness. It will serve you well, as you have served all of us by showing us light enough to help us learn from your differences.