North Okaloosa County’s high schools will hold graduation exercises at the end of this week.

I remember the moment I realized high school really was over and life was about to change forever.

It wasn’t during graduation itself. It was during a preview of a senior slide show one week before graduation.

Most of the people around me were laughing at the baby pictures and candid shots.

I would have been crying at the realization that I wouldn’t be seeing many of my friends as much in the future … you know, if guys ever cried or anything.

Graduation itself? I didn’t have time to be emotional. I was almost late for the ceremony; we had to speed back 90 miles from Indianapolis, where my sister and two of her teammates were taking part in a regional tennis tournament that day. Then I had two speeches to stress over, and then try to figure out how many graduation “receptions” to attend afterward.

To all graduates — members of the Class of 2008 and before: When did it hit you that high school was really over?

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