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Guest Column: after 13 years of memories, senior class becomes a family

Kyla Pearce
Photo/Bentley Monk

Kyla Pearce

My name is Kyla Pearce and I am a senior at Grand Canyon High School.

This year, Grand Canyon High School’s graduating class consists of eighteen students. While many have come and gone over the years, there is a small group of seniors who have been together since kindergarten. I am one of those seniors.

Because of the small class size, our class has become less like a class and more like a family. Since kindergarten, we have had countless adventures and made a lifetime of memories.

In second grade, our class made a tradition of walking to the rim of Grand Canyon every Thursday. These trips were followed by a dance party in the classroom.

In fourth grade, we spent months raising enough money to send our class to the Phoenix Zoo and Science Center.

Sixth grade was the year our class went to Camp Sky-Y in Prescott. We spent four days at camp traversing a high ropes course, eating delicious food, and learning to kayak.

High school brought many new adventures from our first homecoming dance to our last prom, when the six of us danced in a circle and cried because we were scared of saying goodbye.

I still remember how small we felt walking through those doors on the first day of high school. Then, sometime between that day and the day we tried on our graduation robes for the first time, we grew up.

This year, we get to feel small again as we enter the next phase of our lives. But all of the memories we’ve made will stay with me forever. I will always remember our long bus rides to and from sports trips, class movie nights, class hikes, our river trip, and all of the adventures in between. These adventures have not only made our years in school fun, but have also shaped us into the people we are becoming now. In between all of the amazing memories, we have also had some rough times. But, as a class and family, we have persevered through the long nights of studying, difficult tests, college applications, break-ups, hardships and losses. And from them, we have only grown closer and stronger.

Now, however, we have to face another loss. We have to say goodbye to one another. So thank you Class of 2017 for all of the memories. Thank you for being my family for thirteen years and for being the best class and family I could ever have hoped for. I am so proud of everything we have accomplished and I can’t wait to see what each and every one of you will contribute to the world in the future. Congratulations Class of 2017!


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