Memories

Hello, my name is Ksands24, I am a graduating senior in the class of 2024 and I would like to share some of my favorite memories that have stuck with me over the 4 years of high school and what I took away from them. There have been so many wonderful moments throughout high school like walking down to Oak Hill Cash with my friends after a long day, first and last days of school, and the countless hours of laughing about stupid ideas and numerous inside jokes. 

Some of the happiest memories that I have are from the Summer of 2021, when a friend and I had signed up for a week of Girl Scout camp in the midst of July. This camp had some of the most memorable and sentimental connections that I’ve ever had with other people. I laughed, cried and got hurt multiple times. Throughout the 6 days that we were there, we did arts and crafts, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner together and swam a lot. I remember when we had to do canoe tips which was where 2 of us sat in a canoe where our counselors proceeded to flip us into the water as hard as they could, which I think was their favorite part of their entire summer as they got quite a bit of a kick out of it. However when they flipped mine, I stood up and slammed my forehead against the side of the boat and almost drowned underwater because I couldn’t find my way up from underneath the canoe. Which was terrifying and I was almost sent home by the nurse. Another accident that I had was when I didn’t like what was being served for dinner so I asked for just a peanut butter sandwich and they told me they didn’t have time to just make a peanut butter one and I had to eat the peanut butter and jelly, which was unfortunate for me because I am very allergic to jelly so, of course, I had to go to the nurse once again and was almost sent home. Luckily, I was fine both times and finished out my week at camp. I talk about these moments not just because they are funny to me but because everyone in my group cared and was there for me and anyone else when something happened. Saying goodbye to these people was honestly one of the most gut wrenching things I’ve had to do, the last day of camp, was like a fever dream, we ate breakfast in silence just taking in each others company and by lunch my table sang all of the songs we learned including “My Highland Goat” and when we got to the part where we clapped our hands, everyone in the cafeteria clapped with us even though we didn’t know they were listening. As everyone started packing up and leaving, we all hugged and cried, knowing that, it was most likely the last time we’d ever see each other.

Some more memories that I have include the opening night of each play over the past 3 years that I’ve been in Drama. Everyone over the couple months we prepared for each play, knew that opening night is very scary and it doesn’t hit you until you get to the auditorium for pre-sets and everyone starts crowding into their seats. As you sit backstage waiting for the lights to dim and the conversations to stop, you realize how fast your heart is beating and how hard your breathing, you tell yourself, it’s all going to go okay and you know what you’re doing. It might sound stupid to some people and they might say that they can do it easily but it’s different actually getting on stage with blinding lights in your face or almost pitch black trying to find your way around scene changes. Personally the feelings I just described are euphoric to me and I know I will never get these feelings back now that high school is over soon but the memories will stay with me forever. 

A few more memories and the best feeling are the fairs at the end of summer. I think we can all agree that the Litchfield, Fryburg and any other fairs out there that we all go to, are amazing memories that we have with our friends. From going on rides together when it gets dark, to eating blooming onions and fried dough, to petting zoos, everything feels nostalgic in a way and I hope we can all continue to have those feelings as we grow up and move on to different places and aspects of our lives. 

These may seem like simple memories but I took away so much more than I ever could have hoped for. Girl Scout camp gave me the opportunity to meet new people from all around Maine and I made and lost some of my closest friends I’ve had in just 6 days. Drama gave me confidence to put myself out there and not be afraid of what’s trying to scare you and the fairs gave me life long memories that I can relive every year as long as the fairs continue. Lastly, I want to thank all of Oak Hills class of 2024 for the happy memories you have given me in the past 13 years we have gone to school together. I am so excited to see where you all go next and I hope the best for you. Thank you

“The Graduates” by Game of EPL5 & LUMIX G20/F1.7 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.