There is something comforting yet strange about being a Senior here at Taft. For years, we have been counting down to these final moments as Seniors: college decisions, skipping Bingham, and the overall feeling of being a little freer than everyone else. And then, suddenly, you’re here, and yes, you feel free, but instead of appreciating that, you start to realize how temporary your time here is. Every walk to class, every dining hall meal, and every late-night vending machine run starts to feel like it might be the last time. So, instead of sulking over the little time we do have left, I have created a bucket list that (hopefully) encapsulates moments that you wouldn’t think of caring about, but somehow end up mattering the most and extending your Taft career beyond high school.
First: get your favorite teacher’s contact information. Whether that be their phone number, Instagram, etc., having a way to reach the teachers who shaped your Taft experience is essential. Although it might not feel like it, teachers can be your friends too, and these people have genuinely impacted how you think, write, and see the world. Trust me when I tell you that you are going to want to update them when important things happen in your life. Plus, it’s a good way to stay in the loop of Taft life. Yes, we’re graduating, but we’re not disappearing off the face of the Earth!
Second: reconnect with someone. Maybe it’s an old roommate, a friend you lost touch with after your Lower Mid year, or just someone you used to see every day but somehow drifted from. Taft has a way of reshuffling your schedule, but that does not mean that you should leave without letting others know how much they’ve meant to you and impacted your life here. Who knows, maybe that friend you had during your Mid spring that you slowly stopped seeing as often actually misses you just as much as you miss them. Senior year is one of the last chances you have to close those gaps, to pick things back up, or at least acknowledge what was there. Sometimes it’s not even about fully reconnecting, just about saying something that you never got to say, and it’s ok if that’s “goodbye.” At the very least, it’s a reminder that the people who shaped your experience here don’t just disappear just because your schedule changed.
Third: megabed (sorry, not sorry, dorm parents). Some traditions don’t even need an explanation. The megabed is a way to get even closer to your roommate, who you’ve already been sleeping next to for the last seven months (or more), and who doesn’t want that? It might take you a couple of hours to get the beds in the right spot, along with the rest of your room, but that’s what makes it memorable. There’s something uniquely special about sharing a bed with your roommate for the last couple of weeks, taking advantage of the opportunity to get even closer (physically and emotionally) right before we walk out of here. It might be one of those moments that you remember a little bit clearer than the rest.
Fourth, and finally: graduate. As simple as it may sound, graduating from Taft comes at a higher cost than you might think. It’s not simply the act of walking across the stage and walking away with a diploma. It’s more about processing what graduating actually means and how you will carry your Taft spirit into the future. It’s easy to rush past this—rushing onto summer, college, or simply whatever’s next—but it’s important to remember that at one point, Taft was your everything.
To be honest, there is no perfect way to finish Taft. You will never get to everything, and you’ve probably already forgotten countless moments that felt so important at the time. Nonetheless, being present in the last weeks we have, regardless of if they check off a box on a bucket list, is what sticks.
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