My dad always told me to enjoy high school, because my high school years would be some of the very best years of my life.

Now, as I begin my senior year, I realize he was completely right. As I walk through the hallways, I can’t help but wonder if I look as big to the freshmen as the seniors did to me three years ago.

I wish I could look at this final year as a going away party, and not as the end to pep rallies, football games, long time friends, and teachers that have become family. I might even miss the daily teenage drama.

I have watched new friends walk in to my life, and I have watched old friends stomp out.

I have cried over a horrible grade, and I have rejoiced over a hard-earned A. My teachers throughout my high school years have pushed me to succeed, and have made more of a difference in my work ethic and in my life than they could ever possibly know.

Inside the walls of Pelham High school I have fought for love with Romeo and Juliet, roared through the twenties with Jay Gatsby, and felt the sting of betrayal strike Caesar in the back.

I have prepared for the rival Pelham/Thompson games, and I have cheered on the last day of school for the past eleven years, but I won’t this year.

For the past three years I have dreamt of May 27, 2010, but now as that stage creeps closer in to my view, I want it to slow down.

Of course, I want to grow up, but not this fast; not yet.

Pelham High school has become my second home, and its amazing staff has become my second family.

So, I’m going to make this my very best year yet. Not only because it is my senior year, but because it will conclude some of the very best years of my life.

Bethany Adams is a senior at Pelham High School.