So today was the last day of high school for me! I took public transit and ended up being half an hour late! Thanks Carmen for picking up my report card for me (<3)!

Of course, I am overjoyed that everything is finally over. After so many years of secondary education, I am more than ready to leave and forge a new path! Leaving behind the drama of high school and getting a chance to meet completely new people in a new environment. I am so glad that the transition from a Hong Kong high school to a Canadian one was not too difficult. Sure I had the scares of universities doubting my English competence and thus issues with processing my application arose. Then there was that time when it appeared on my transcript that I did not do Science 10 and therefore was unable to graduate. Thank goodness that I got through that! Excitement for what is to come in September can barely be described in words and I am sure my thoughts are echoed among many others in grade 12– or should I say, the new Tupper alumni? Grads of 2011 FOR THE WIN!

However, as with all good things, there is the negative side to it. I am scared of the transition from my small high school into the big world that is university. Who know how I will adapt? I feel like university will feel a lot less personal than high school. Many people also often say that high school is the best years of your life. It was hard imagining it that way when you are a teenager and life seems to have thrown all its obstacles at you while you progressed through secondary school. I guess with time, I will look back and realize the easy, carefree life that was high school and truly appreciate it. I guess now that I am out of high school, I will eventually have to pick something I want to do with my life. That is going to be hard as I am usually indecisive. At this moment, I have no idea as to what I want to do. Hopefully, university will open my eyes to the possibilities!

Now for some shoutouts to people that helped me through highschool!

Glenda Chou, Priscilla Lam, Jailen Doton, Linda Le:
You guys were the group of grade 11s that I hung out with– correction, you guys were the only group of grade 11s that I hung out with last year! You helped make my transition into grade 12 smoother and I am so glad you guys were there! You guys put up with me during my bad days and my probably even more annoying good days! Getting ready for grad, artona and everything else at school was so much easier knowing I had a solid group of friends that would be there for me! Remember the Victoria trip last year? Remember us going karaokeing for the first time together? Remember me forcing you guys to go to Youth For Change? =) Glenda, I remember us first really talking to each other in the cafeteria line! You asked me if I liked Big Bang and we hit it off right away! Then there was working at Stitches! Priscilla, my twin from creepy twinville. I still cannot believe all the similarities we have! Virgos ftw! Linda, the LG that lit up our group frequently. We were supposed to have more than one class together!! GRR! Jailen, your birthday was a blast! So much sushi we wanted to die! And then you were always there when I needed you for Youth for change or when I needed someone to go with me to Student Council! Again, thank you all for being that positive energy I needed in life, and being a pillar of strength that I have found myself leaning upon!

Carmen Fu:
You probably don’t need me listing what you have done for me. Despite the fact we have only met each other this year (and the latter part of this school year to be exact), I can honestly trust my life in your hands. I ranted to you, I stressed out on you, I needed so much help from you! You were always there, ready to lend a hand! Again, one of the best things I have accomplished this year was no doubt becoming friends with you! We started as strangers, and quickly worked our way into becoming besties! Youthpolitiks, P.E and all those random times when we would just see each other ❤ Work out buddies next year! =)

Connie Leung:
CONNIE! I remember being very worried about Day 2s because it seemed like all the close friends I had would not be part of my Day 2 life! Then, I met you! From the first day in P.E, you were super nice to me! Eventually we ended up sitting next to each other in Law and hanging out during our free blocks! You are unjudging and listen to me when I needed it. And to be honest, I tried persuading you away from UBC Okanagan for totally selfish reasons! =) I am so glad you will still be within transport reach of me and again, we have so much we still need to do together!!

Tammy Ho, Maria Piansay, Angela Li:
Grouped you guys together because I see all three of you in free block! ^.^ You three were some of the first friends I made in grade 11! Socials class with Ms. Burnell remember? Tammy, you are the cutest being on earth! You are always happy and supportive and I am very glad I met you! We had how many classes together? Geography, Literature, Biology, Free block, and P.E (kinda?)! For two years running, you are the person in my grade that I shared the most classes with! MARIA PIANSAY! The first girl to approach me at Tupper. Still calls me Hong Kong-nese for reasons I cannot understand. I will miss you so much!!! Thank you for reaching out to a stranger when you saw one! It made my day…no make that my high school life! Angela Li..I never see you in class! Well, whenever I do, I know I am in for a fun class! Actually, even when you are not and I see you outside class, you give me a good time anyway! I remember you going like “WHAT?! THERE IS A TEST!?! ARE YOU SH*TTING ME?!” LOLOLOL!

Kim Sunder, Lauren Crossfield, Nancy Lok:
I’m pretty sure you guys know why I grouped you together. Yes it is the stupid nickname. Yes it is stupid. But! I still love you guys!!! It is amazing how being bullied can bring you closer to your bullies! If that made sense! Kim, it was fun arguing against you and Nancy for law! I will always remember you as that gorgeous Indian princess ❤ Oh and as the girl that kept stealing the top spot in biology last year. So no, the nickname does not apply here, now does it Kim?! Lauren, Lauren, Lauren. Again, sorry for the UBC thing! But you can bet your butt I will be seeing lots of you next year! You were amazing this year, putting together all those events for Tupper! I cannot wait to see what you will accomplish in the future! Nancy! Sigh..Nancy. I spend half my time super scared of you, and the other half wanting to just chill and chat! Haha! Yes there are many things and iPhone can do, so get one! Then we can FaceTime!!! To all three of you guys, we need to hang out more. Seriously.

Mindy Kan:
Girl, you have been there when I needed you so many times this year! Guess I can’t name all the instances, but you know what they were! I love you to death!! I loved just texting you when I needed help, or if I simply needed to talk! I missed you so much during the past year! I am very touched that you bought me lunch on my birthday! ^^ I need to return the favor!! Out of everyone I turned to for help for graduation itself, you were indispensable! Giving me tips on how to successfully get through grade 12!! Thanks again Mindy and I hope we see each other more often!!

My Alumni Buddies (David Decolongon, William Zhang, Josh Decolongon, Monica Vuong, Wendell Mortel, Connie Zhou and everyone else! It’s just that the majority of the times I’ve met, it’s with the people I’ve named and thus…I named them. =P):

I was devastated with not graduating with you guys. But, we kept up pretty well! I remember the start of my grade 12 year, when I kept referring to you guys as the grade 12s! I finally settled on calling you guys the alumnis ❤ But I guess now I am an alumnus as well! Thank you for helping me with decisions for next year! Solving dilemmas that I faced in high school by sharing your past experiences! I am so glad that I got to hang out with a group outside of school so I can seperate my time and life, making everything easier to manage! David, you have always been there to listen, comment and give advice! Yeah we share some of the same problems, so that really helps when one of us is trying to get through stuff! Although I am not going to arts next year, you never know! Remember to hook me up in Political Sciences!!!
William Zhang. If no one else was there, you were. The most self-sacrificing in the group, I feel like you are the true meaning of friendship, keeping the group together! You have been a wonderful help during this past year, guiding me through though decision I had to make. Thank you so much for being there!
Josh! It is weird how I finally got to know you, but it wasn’t in school that made it happen! It was fun just hanging out with you because you always put a smile on my face. I seriously just find myself cracking up and laughing till I’m nearly in tears when I am around you and Monica! I think it is your sarcasm. Thanks for introducing me to Jake and Amir!
And now on to Monica! Whenever I think of you, I instantly think about the French project. Fun times. You gave your comments when I needed them and they were honest. I really appreciate that! I still am not a Hufflepuff though. Oh! I suddenly remembered us trying to not get a bad tan during the Stanley Cup Finals! I hope I will get to create more ridiculous memories with you in the future!
Wendell! You listened to me when I had my problems. You were that guy that I found myself sharing a lot of my secrets with! True, those secrets eventually got shared around, but a lot of the times, I talked to you first! I’m sad I’m now seeing you less! We had the same spring breaks and stuff so that gave us more time together! Despite the fact you’re at BCIT, we still have to hang out lots next year!!
Connie! My idol in so many things whether you know it or not! I am glad we hung our more this year and I got to know you! Again, you were supportive and I felt I could really talk to you! Next year, I hope I’ll be seeing you lots around campus and you will continue to be there for me when I need help! OH YEAH! Bake me something! ^^

There are probably a hundred other people I need to be thanking for helping me get this far! But this is done rather hurriedly, so please excuse me if I left you out! Some other people I must thank are my fellow grade 12s, my wonderful teachers and of course, my family. As I say time and time again, this would not have been possible without you guys!

So I guess this is it! University, here I come!

Karen