Formative Years

When you first walk down the hallways, don’t worry about the grade 12s

Just because they’re screaming fresh meat doesn’t mean they’ll actually eat you

Most of them are vegetarians anyways

Dear class of 2020

As you walk through the doors and into the foyer

How funny it is we call it the matrix, as if it is some make believe playing game that you may die in if you’re not careful

Dear class of 2020

As I take my last few months here in this space as a high school student

You prepare to leave grade 8

You think you are on top of the world

But graduation is the accomplishment, moving on is not

Dear class of 2020

Here is something I learned in high school that 30 credits will never teach you

The very nature of a locker is to protect things you are hiding, things that are special and you don’t want people to steal

You think that it’s funny you can fit in them but it’s not

You are only teaching yourself to hide from strangers

Dear class of 2020

Don’t hide from strangers

Everyone is a stranger to you right now

You prepare yourself to fit into the fictional mold of high school student that Disney channel has provided

By the time you leave, you will also become a stranger to yourself, and that, my friend, you can never hide from

Dear class of 2020

Instead of sharing the space,

We are giving you our space to keep

You don’t have to return it

Dear class of 2020

Please take care of it

It meant everything to me

I expect it will mean more than anything to you

Dear class of 2020

As I first entered high school, I had a difficult time finding refuge in this school

I learned to put up the walls I didn’t know I was capable of building

I thought that this would be a temporary jail, and I didn’t allow myself to see the sanctuary of it all

Dear class of 2020

Please allow yourself to see the sanctuary of it all

Allow you to attach, allow yourself to find that candle in the midst of darkness, and allow yourself to become one with this place

Dear class of 2020

Please take good care of the gift we are giving you

Because one day you will have to give it to someone else and it’s a shame if you give it to them broken

//January 2016//