For the past two years, whenever we filled out a reflection sheet for a portfolio entry, we were asked the same question: where are we going? For some of us, thinking about the future was stressful. There were so many choices to make and so many options to choose from.

Now, after four years of high school, we finally know the answer to that question. All of us know where we’re going. It might be to a four-year university or a two-year college; to a technical or vocational school; or to a job. It might be into the armed forces.

If figuring out our future was the focus of our culminating project, then this night is the culmination of this stage of our lives. Twelve years of education have led to this point. For most of us, leaving Marysville-Pilchuck will be bittersweet. Although it’s exciting to think about the opportunities awaiting us, it’s also sad to leave all of our friends. A lot of us have known each other for years and now our paths are splitting in so many different directions.

But no matter where we choose to go — whether we become Cougars or Huskies, whether we stay in Marysville or move across the country, whether we choose to start our own business, to go on to graduate school or to do something amazing like help build a library in Nigeria — no matter where we go, we’ll still have something in common. We’ll be able to remember the friends we laughed with, the teachers who guided us and the parents who supported us through our mistakes. No matter where we decide to go, we can always remember our years of high school and what it was like when we were all students at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.