Holding rank

Well, I did it.

I, yes I, Christina Chastain, am a senior. The year I have been waiting for since kindergarten has arrived. The embarrassing memories of freshman year are long since forgotten, and the maze of hallways in Central High School has been conquered.

Senior year means that I, as a senior, am Chief. Of course, Your Majesty or Your Highness will work too.

But am I ready for these titles? With the title "Senior" also comes the pressure: the ACT or SAT (dun, dun, dun), leaving for college and the vanishing of my habitual life as I know it.

Am I ready to give up the little things as well as the big things?

My bed, my comfortable, wonderful, beautiful bed will transform into a hard, uncomfortable, ugly dorm bed before my eyes. My imported coffee will suddenly turn into instant. The old, smiling, waving man I see walking his dog every morning on my way to school will turn into college students running to class, praying not to be late.

The hallways of Central High will turn into mere memories. The smells of the teachers' scented candles and coffee, the sights of my fellow classmates and the sounds of scampering feet and ringing bells will be recollections.

The carefully planned path that I have chosen to take between my classes so I can be on time and still say hi to all of my friends and favorite teachers will be lost. It will be buried under new paths that underclassmen have made, like a wave tossed in an ocean.

Oh, and those were just the small things.

The day will abruptly come that I will have to leave my family. The family I have been with almost every single day. The family that waits for me to come home on Friday nights, eager to tell me it's past my curfew. The family that I can tell everything to will be miles away.

My friends and I will realize that we have to go in opposite directions. The friends that have been there for me through all of my good times and bad, the friends that walked into my life when everyone else walked out, the friends that practically hold my diary in their hearts will be starting their new lives, without me.

So, I am ready for these titles?

You betcha.

Even though I will be physically distant from all of these people, places and things, they will always be close to my heart.

The hallways, the dog walker, my friends, my family; no matter how far away I am, I will never forget them.

So bring on the "Your Majesty" and "Chief," because I, Christina Chastain, am ready. After all, I have been waiting for this since kindergarten, right?

Christina Chastain is a senior at Cape Girardeau Central High School and a contributing writer for the Southeast Missourian.