Saying Farewell to the 2023-2024 School Year 

Isabella Jimenez

As soon as I began my high school years back in 2020, I was told by everyone “Enjoy these years while they last. They will fly by.” I didn’t believe them at the time, and quite frankly, I didn’t give it much thought. Four whole school years. It felt like it was going to be a lifetime until I graduated. Now, being a senior and graduating in less than 20 days, I truly wish I had listened. That I had taken those words to heart. It feels like I was a freshman student just yesterday, starting school after the grueling and life-changing COVID-19 pandemic. Even with the difficult challenges and stressful moments that high school brought upon me, I will forever cherish all the friends I have met, the memories I have made, and the lessons I have learned. A part of me wishes I could go back and fully enjoy every second because it all really did fly by. 

Especially my journalism class, the only elective I persisted in for all four years of high school. Every single year, it was my favorite and most cherished class. It was the class I knew I could relax, enjoy, and be myself. A place where I knew I would have an uncontrollable laughing fit with my friends, classmates, and peers. A class where I felt like my writing skills could thrive and my articles were my best outlet. I can never come up with enough words to truly explain how I feel about this class and the amount of pure love and admiration that I have for every single person in this class, especially the newspaper staff. I will forever be thankful to all the wonderful people on the newspaper staff and all the enjoyable experiences they have given me. No group will ever compare to them. The amount of hard work and passion that they put into The Talon every single day speaks volumes.

My appreciation also goes to Mr. Lage. Although he makes it very clear that this is a student-run class, I heartily believe that none of this would be possible without him. He is truly the glue to this whole operation, and thanks to him many of us have discovered our passions and different paths for the future. I know, without a doubt, that this publication is in great hands, and it will continue to flourish and prosper throughout the upcoming years and bring The Talon to new achievements. 

I deeply hope that we, as a staff, have shown just how much we truly treasure and love this publication through our countless beautifully written articles. Good luck to all my peers and profoundly loved friends, although I know you will not need it. Even though my upcoming graduation feels beyond sorrowful, I know that I am heading to new opportunities and places, and I can’t wait to see you all go through the same thing. I will be counting the days to get to see you all walk to the stage and take your well-earned diploma.

This class has always been one of my safe spaces. I’d even say I consider it home, and the newspaper staff as my family. I hope that this class stays as the same loving environment even after I leave. Nothing could have ever prepared me for this moment. The last day I will write for The Talon. So, for the last time, this is goodbye. As for my friends, consider this as a see you later. I hope you all have a splendid summer, and I hope to see all our future falcons prosper next year! Thank you all for reading with us!! 

Giancarlo Ponce

Although I’m only switching schools, this year feels like a finale, but without a complete conclusion. I’ll miss this journalism class and the gifts it has passed down to me. The skills I’ve honed with the help of Lage and all the editors that have mentored me, especially Anthony Cruz; and the dear friends I’ve made in this class.

I feel a desire for renewal, to do it all again. To be a freshman again, familiarizing myself with my classmates and actually being productive. To be sitting on that table on senior night selling yearbooks with Daniella, nervously brainstorming what to do, again. To look back on my life, as if I had a terminal illness, and my life was going to end along with 10th grade. That’s obviously not true, though, and honestly life begins after high school in the first place.

As with everything in life, these two years will hang with me forever like tapestries on the walls of my episodic memory, painted with life-long lessons and endearing experiences. I’ll see if I could visit sometime; the future opportunities to revisit my partners through school events are little skylights of shiny hope along the walls of the hall of my future.

Goodbye for now; life is a very complex and winding path that’s existentially unpredictable, and this small section of the stroll was sweet. The memories I’ve made in this class will feel like a comforting breeze, sound like the leisurely rustling of leaves blowing through it, and be drenched by a cascade of sunlight as warm as the kindness you all have blessed me with.