BRIGHT White

Memorial Day has come and gone, and today is the last day of May. This means that most people are out of school, and summer has officially begun. It's time to dig into the back of your closet and dresser, and pull out those white summer staples that have been in storage all winter. Hurry! Labor Day will come faster than you think!

Dress

Watch

Shorts

Hat

Sandals

Necklace

Sunglasses

Purse

What are your "BRIGHT white" summer essentials? What will you be pulling out of the back of your closet, and what will you be scouting out to purchase? I'd love to hear!

Be Stylish. Be Classy. Be Creative.

Emily

The Art of the Thank You Note

Thank You notes are one of the simple pleasures in life, but unfortunately they are increasingly forgotten. I love receiving handwritten thank you notes in the mail on crisp stationery. In this age of technology and social media, people often think that handwritten thank you notes are outdated and are something of the past. This couldn't be more untrue. According to The Emily Post "Etipedia," 

a handwritten note is still the right thing to do. 

Daniel Post Senning offers this quote about the importance of the handwritten thank you note:

"Would I ever send a digital thank-you for a gift I was given? No way. It just isn't enough - not personal enough, not weighty enough. You can't hold digital thanks in your hands the way you can hold a note. When was the last time you printed out an e-card? Right. Email is read and deleted. A mailed note is seen again and again on a desk or counter. Would you rather your thanks be remembered or deleted?"

Sure, a quick text or e-mail is better than no thank you note at all. However, I am a firm believer in a traditional handwritten note. It shows that the person took time out of their busy day to sit down and reflect on the meaning of the gift. The person who gave you the gift spent time and money picking out something just for you. You should make time to thank them for this thoughtful gesture.

Having recently written several thank you notes after my graduation party, I know how time consuming writing thank you notes can be (and I like to write!) However, your efforts will be appreciated when your note is received by the gift-giver.

One of the other reasons I just love a handwritten thank you note is because of the stationery. I will admit to being a stationery addict. I may or may not have an entire desk drawer dedicated to stationery. It's just so fun!

Here are some current contents of my stationery drawer:

Clockwise from Left:

Jostens Stationery (very classic, typical for high school graduations. It's a good option if you are going to have to write a large amount of Thank Yous.)

Lilly Pulitzer Fold-over notes: I love this patchwork design. I got these at TJ Maxx for maybe six dollars. (Great place to find stationery.)

Houndstooth Initial fold-over notes: I got these in the $1 section at Michaels.

Sailboat side-fold card: again, $1 at Michaels!

Blue initial fold-over note: $1 at Michaels

You don't need to spend a lot of money on fancy thank you notes. I usually get mine in the $1 section at Michaels. They have some really cute and preppy designs! TJ Maxx and HomeGoods are also great places to look. I've seen many a Lilly Pulitzer or Kate Spade stationery set at my local TJ Maxx for under $10. 

If I could splurge on stationery (that would be dangerous!) These would be my top choices:

TOP (L-R)  Flat Anchor Card | Monogrammed Madras | Kate Spade "Talk of the Town"

BOTTOM: (L-R) Initialed Chevron | Lilly Pulitzer Flat Card | Monogrammed Zebra

Great websites for "splurge worthy" stationery:

Lifeguard Press

Boatman Geller

Nico and LaLa

Other stores to check out are Crane & Co., Papyrus, and even Target!

If you are really adventurous, you may want to check out Etsy as well.

I hope this post inspires you to take the time to write thank you notes if you don't already do so. It is a very thoughtful and fulfilling practice. Make it a habit, and always have cute stationery on hand.

Happy Writing!

Do you love a good handwritten thank you as much as I do? Where do you get your stationery? Do you prefer flat cards or fold-over notes? Let me know!

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative.

Emily

Graduation Weekend Recap

I had originally planned to get this published a few days earlier, but I have spent the last few days writing thank you notes for graduation gifts, and recovering from our grad party. Thanks for bearing with me!

This past weekend, I graduated from Central Catholic High School. The weekend was so eventful and so memorable. The action kicked off on Thursday with the Senior Awards Ceremony and Senior luncheon, Friday my grandparents came into town, Saturday was our graduation party, and Sunday was the actual ceremony. Definitely a busy weekend, but it was very enjoyable and lots of fun!

I thought I'd write a post (more for my own reference and memories) recapping the main events of the weekend.

Thursday: Senior Awards Ceremony and Luncheon

On Thursday, we had a senior Mass, and the awards ceremony and luncheon immediately followed. It was the last time our senior class was in the school building all together. Various academic, service, and athletic awards were given out at the ceremony, as well as recognition for scholarships. After the ceremony, all of the seniors and their parents headed to the cafeteria for a luncheon. The junior class, our senior class adviser, and our principal spoke at the luncheon about our class. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get emotional. We celebrated with cake, and also received our first official "alumni mailing." So weird!

My mom, me, my sister Hannah, and my sister Natalie before the awards ceremony. We are all wearing Lilly Pulitzer, naturally. Hannah's dress is available here.

And....

I sent in this photo to Lilly Pulitzer Madison Avenue's "Throwback Thursday" contest on their Facebook page. (The photo had to feature vintage or previous season Lilly dresses.) About ten minutes after I sent the email, our photo was posted as the contest winner. I was so excited!

There we are on the FB page!

One of many pictures we took with our friends

It was so weird to be addressed as "alumni." I guess that term always makes me think of older people. Nonetheless, I love this pencil sketch of the school that the Alumni Association gave to all the seniors.

Saturday: Our Graduation Party

We held our party on Saturday night, which was actually the night before the ceremony. All of our family was already in town for the weekend, so it worked out really nicely. We invited family, family friends, a few teachers, our high school friends, and classmates. We had a pretty great turnout, and the weather was perfect! It was a great evening!

THE SETTING: We held the party in our backyard. We rented a tent and some tables. For the color scheme, we stuck with blue and gold, our high school colors. It looked really great! 

Here's the tent all set up. As you can see, we alternated the tablecloths with blue and gold overlays. In the middle is a long table that we used for the food.

More details: 

Top: Cake pops! I made cake pops for the celebration. (I use the tutorial from Little Miss Momma) I made yellow cake, and alternated dipping in milk chocolate and white chocolate. I then embellished with blue and gold sprinkles. I printed a little decorative tag with our names and college logos, and attached it to the cellophane bag with ribbon. They were a hit.

Bottom left: Mizzou napkins! Yes my mom bought Mizzou plates and napkins for the cake.

Bottom right: the centerpieces were little fish bowls filled with blue and gold flat stones, water, and a floating flower candle. My mom also bought gold doilies and blue and gold grad confetti.

THE FOOD: The party was catered. It was so much easier not having to worry about food, and we knew the food would be good! Our cleaning lady's son is a professional chef in Chicago, but also caters for private parties. We had him do all the food. He's Mexican, so his specialty is classic Mexican cuisine. The food was OUTSTANDING. Rafael and his assistant spent the day in our kitchen whipping up delicious dishes. The menu included pork, rice, shrimp ceviche, homemade guacamole, Mexican slaw, salsa, and fruit. Naturally, each table was set with its own bowl of chips and salsa as well. I'd be lying if I said I haven't had the leftovers for lunch everyday this week. So good!

(Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the  food!)

For dessert, we had the cake pops, and then we had a cake for each of my sisters and I. I had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting with the Mizzou tiger, my sister Hannah had a lemon cake with buttercream frosting with a St. Louis Billiken, and my sister Natalie had a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting with an Iowa Hawkeye. Most of the cake was gone at the end, which was so surprising, and definitely a good thing! I think it was probably because our grad party was one of the first of the season, so people weren't "caked out" yet.

The dessert table! Complete with plates and napkins with our respective school logos. Only my mother would search the Internet for those!

Here we are posing with our cakes. So nicely decorated, and so delicious!

I can't wait to be a Mizzou tiger!

For cards and gifts, we put together this little table. My mom ordered wrapping paper with each of our school mascots, and wrapped a gift box and cut a slit in it. We used these for cards. We also put a small framed wallet senior picture in front of each box in case people didn't know who was going to school where. I originally wasn't going to do any sort of picture collage. Some parties you go to have like three massive photo boards, and I honestly think its overwhelming and kind of tacky. I decided to do a small photo board with a few key pictures, using a tutorial from Pinterest. 

Close up of the board.

Here we are with my little brother before the party. All of us girls wore Lilly, again! Hannah wore the same dress from the awards ceremony (see link above.) Natalie wore the Pearl dress in Shorely Blue Chomp Chomp. I wore a Lilly from last season that I bought on 6pm.com. And of course, I wore Ralph Lauren pearls and my Jack Rogers Navajos in Platinum.

We had such an enjoyable evening. It was great to chat and catch up with family and friends, and it was the perfect summer evening. Party was a success!

Sunday: Graduation Day!

Sunday was the actual ceremony. The ceremony wasn't until 5:00, so instead of doing a dinner afterwards, we had brunch on the terrace at the country club with family. It was a beautiful morning, and very enjoyable.

Since I go to Catholic school, the graduation ceremony consisted of a mass with the graduation ceremony afterward. The ceremony went well, except for the fact that it was ungodly hot in the church and one of my classmates fainted. Otherwise, the ceremony was beautiful! It was a very happy moment walking up to the altar to receive my diploma. One of my best friends was the valedictorian, and yes, her amazing speech made me cry. (Good job, Magz!)

My immediate family, both sets of grandparents, my aunt (Mom's twin sister), my nanny Bertie (she's been with us since I was six months old), and my sister's boyfriend came to the ceremony. I was so lucky they could all be there to see me graduate!

After the ceremony, all of the graduates and their families gathered outside the church for pictures. There was cake and punch in the church basement as well.

Receiving my diploma

 

Throwing up our caps! We did it! (I took this photo from our school's Facebook page.)

Here we are with some of our best friends! McKenna, wearing an adorable green dress from The Limited, is going to study journalism at Indiana University. Neely (4th from left) is going to study international relations at George Mason University. Hannie is on the end, wearing an adorable polka dot dress from TJ Maxx. She is going to Mizzou (yay!) to study business.

Sarah and I. She is going to Eastern Illinois University to study special education. She's going to be so great!

Here we are with our best friend Timmy. We've been best friends since Kindergarten! Timmy is going to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study computer engineering in the honors program. He is going to be unbelievably successful!

Isaiah was in our pre-kindergarten class and we used to have play dates with him. That seems like just yesterday! We remained friends in high school. He is going to the University of Notre Dame to major in pre-med.

Here we are with our very stylish friend, Marion (she's wearing a J.Crew dress!). Our families have been great friends for as long as I can remember. Marion is going to Villanova University to study business.

Here's little miss Valedictorian on the left :) Magz is one of our very best friends. Couldn't have made it through the awkward junior high years without her! She is attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

Here we are with Bertie. She is basically our second mom. She has been our babysitter/nanny since we were six months old. She has taught me how to sew, and do so many other things. I can't imagine life without her. Love you!

My parents and I. (Loving my mom's seersucker dress and my day's Lilly tie!)

With my Aunt Linda

With my grandma and grandpa Russell. I'm so lucky to have them in my life!

With my grandma and grandpa Woodcock. Love them so much!

Showing off our outfits and our honor cords and caps. Nat and I wore the same thing as we wore to the party. Hannah wore a fun skirt and shirt combo from TJ Maxx.

Hats off!

I love this picture! Inspired by the College Prepster.

OUTFIT RECAP:

Left: (awards ceremony) Vintage Lilly Pulitzer dress, Onex sandals.

Middle: (Sunday brunch) Loft dress (old), BCBGeneration sandals (old), consignment necklace, Longchamp bag.

Right: (party and ceremony) Lilly Pulitzer Dress. (old)

Graduation weekend was so memorable. I am so lucky I was able to spend it with my closest family and friends. My time at CCHS has come to a close, but I will always look back on my time in high school with a smile. I'm so so excited for college!

Did you graduate high school recently? What did you do to celebrate? What did you do for your grad party? What did you wear? Comment away, I want to know!

Stay Stylish. Stay Classy. Be Creative.

Emily

Class of 2013

Today is the day.

At 5:00 this evening, the Central Catholic Class of 2013 will gather together one last time.

We will celebrate our successes.

Take a look back.

and

Take a look forward.

It's still a bit surreal

but

We are graduating!

The best is yet to come!

From my Instagram

“There is a good reason they call these ceremonies 'commencement exercises'. Graduation is not the end, it's the beginning.” ~Orrin Hatch Good luck to anyone else who is graduating!  Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative Emily

5 Things That Will Forever Remind Me of High School

It's been rather quiet around Stylish.Classy.Creative for the past week. I do apologize! It's been crazy busy, getting ready for the senior luncheon and awards ceremony, making final preparations for my sisters' and I's grad party (it's tonight), and even trying to schedule an appointment for me to get my wisdom teeth out (ugh!). Needless to say, blogging has been momentarily put on the back burner. However, now that graduation weekend has officially kicked off, I figured it was due time for a very fitting post.

I graduate from Central Catholic High School tonight at 5:00. It's still a bit surreal. We've had our senior awards banquet and set foot in the school building one last time as a class. I'm slowly starting to come to the realization that it's actually happening! Last night was my grad party, and I think that reaffirmed my realization. 

As I've mentioned in several previous posts, my time at CCHS was so unique. There are several different aspects, whether it is physical objects, or experiences, that will always remind me of my time in high school. I thought it would be fun to highlight these "5 Things" in a blog post. Read on!

#1: Khaki Pants

Yes, we wore uniforms. Okay, so we weren't subjected to the plaid skirts/blazers/ties that are present at some Catholic high schools. We had a little bit of freedom in our "dress code." Girls could wear khaki/navy/dark brown skirts/pants/bermudas/capris and light blue/gold/navy/white polos or button up blouses. We were allowed to wear sweaters, and school logo sweatshirts and fleeces without a hood. Pretty lenient and very comfortable! You had plenty of ways to "express yourself" but getting dressed each day wasn't too much of an ordeal. 

After wearing the CCHS uniform for four years, I can honestly say that I don't think I will ever be able to wear khakis again. They remind me too much of my school uniform. Every single girl stocked up on the pairs from Aeropostale (pictured above) each fall. They were flattering for a pair of khaki pants, but I just don't think I will ever have a pair of khakis in my wardrobe. They will forever be synonymous with my high school uniform!

#2: Otis Spunkmeyer Cookies

It might be safe to say that if you haven't ever had an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie, you haven't lived. These delicious treats were baked by the hundreds every day in our school cafeteria. They were stacked neatly in their cute little plastic drawers, and protected by the parchment paper wrapper with an Otis quote such as "Cookies Make the World go Round." (Yes, Otis, they do!) The smell of the delicious cookies baking would greet my nose every morning. (They were baked in special Otis ovens, naturally!) During the first few weeks of freshman year, people were obsessed with the cookies! Several guys would get packages several times a day. Not the healthiest, that's for sure. I did have a brief run in with "Otis Obsesssion" my freshman year, but then I made a rule for myself. My rule was that I could have the cookies once a week. I usually chose to eat them on Fridays as a special treat, but there was also many days after a tough AP U.S. History test that I would treat myself to Otis as well. My favorite flavors were butter sugar or milk chocolate chunk. So moist and delicious. From now on, if I ever see Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, I will think of my high school days.

#3: Eclipse Gum

Our school was gum free, so you actually weren't allowed to chew gum. Obviously, this didn't stop us. During freshman and sophomore year, I kept one of the Eclipse Big Paks in my locker. People quickly found out, and flocked to me to get their gum fix. I'll never forget one time during freshman year, when the gum pack fell from the shelf of my locker and spilled all over the hallway. My English teacher was not pleased. Every day after lunch during sophomore year, Maggie and Erin would stop at my locker to get gum before we all walked to wellness together. It was our daily routine. Needless to say, Eclipse gum will always evoke memories of my time as an underclassmen in high school.

Maggie and Erin and I, doing one of our class "Wellness Crew" poses

#4: Pretzel M&Ms

Wow, yet another junk food that will always remind me of high school. Pretzel M&Ms were a big part of my sophomore year volleyball season. My friend Sarah and I would go to the concession stand after our JV volleyball game and grab a pack to eat while we watched the varsity game. It was our little routine, and we were a bit obsessed. We still talk about our obsession with pretzel M&Ms.

Sarah and I on New Year's a few years ago. 

#5: Tennis

The team after a weekend tournament. Love these girls!

For the first two years of high school, I was a volleyball player. Once junior year rolled around, I knew I would need more time to devote to AP classes, so volleyball was out of the picture. In its place landed tennis, a sport that I had only recently taken up during the winter of my sophomore year. I was a bit nervous to join the team at first, as most of the girls had been playing tennis since they were young. I made the team junior year, and I had a great season. Senior year was amazing, we had so much fun singing on the bus to tournaments, goofing around at practice, and of course consuming lots of food. (We had an organized snack schedule for matches, and if you forgot to bring your snack, you were hated :)) I loved that tennis put me with a group of girls who I normally didn't hang out with. It was truly a breath of fresh air. The coaches were great as well, and were very flexible and reasonable. I definitely wasn't the best in my team, but I truly enjoyed the friendship, exercise, and community that tennis offered. It's a sport that I hope to continue to play recreationally in college and beyond. Whenever I play, I will always be reminded of the fun times I had playing tennis in high school. 

Do you have any items/experiences that (will always) remind you of your time in high school?

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative

Emily

The End

Today is my last day of high school.

When that final bell rings at 2:40, I will open my locker one last time, and give it a final slam. I will walk out the doors of school one final time. 

It will be over, just like that.

It's sad.

It's bizarre.

It's exciting.

It's happy.

It's scary.

I am ready to move on to college and I am so excited for the new experiences and independence it will bring. I can't wait to move to campus and get involved with various organizations, and pursue what truly interests me.

However, this doesn't mean I can't get a little emotional over leaving high school, right?

The past four years have been a great experience and I can't imagine spending them with anyone else besides my amazing group of friends, interesting teachers, and terrific classmates. Central Catholic has been an amazing place to spend my teenage years. I am so lucky to have been able to attend a high school where everything was rooted in faith. 

I have been going to school with a majority of my classmates since we were all in kindergarten. That's 13 years! We are all pretty close, and although there are different groups of friends, we all get along fairly well. We are a family! It's so weird to think that after we all receive our diplomas on May 19th, I may never see some of these people again. 

As these final days have come and gone, I have been thinking and reflecting about my time at Central Catholic and what has stood out to me most. I have come to the conclusion that my favorite part of Central was how we were all a family. We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. We knew who everyone in our class was. This is something that I couldn't have experienced at a larger school. The community feeling was something I absolutely loved.

Today is going to be emotionally trying. So, to start things off I thought I would recap the past four years in pictures. Hopefully this will evoke some happy memories!

August 2009- First day of high school with my sisters and my friend Jennifer. I can't believe how young we look! I'm pretty sure we spent DAYS trying to decide "what to wear" on the first day of high school. We wear uniforms. How pathetic! I still remember how excited and eager we were. That seems like so long ago.

October 2009-Freshman year homecoming. Our group was relatively small and we did dinner at my house. Lots of "awkward dance photos" ensued. I loved how all of our dresses were pink/purple/red that year.

Fall 2009- Freshman volleyball tournament.

I sometimes forget I played volleyball my freshman and sophomore years! It was a big time commitment, but I had fun. I remember this tournament particularly well. We rode on a rocket, jamming to "Party in the USA" on the way to Springfield. We also all learned how much we love peanut butter pretzel nuggets. Again, we all look SO little!

May 2010- End of freshie year. This picture was taken on our last day of finals. We went to eat lunch at the park and study. I remember being so so so nervous about my Accelerated English final. That was before I met AP U.S. History

Sophomore wellness. Magz and Erin and I had some great times in 8th hour wellness. We played killer games of badminton, gave Erin fabulous Snooki hair, attempted to play basketball, and even hid behind a tree in the park to avoid participating in football one time (whoops!). 

December 2010- Ahh, the Geography Fair. Abby and I did our report on Poland. After months of slaving away, we put together a pretty stellar display at the fair. (We may or may not have been gluing sequins onto our display board the morning of.) Our food was certainly a hit, as one certain staff member kept coming back for more and more. We made our outfits. I was pretty proud of how they turned out. We got an A on the project :)

April 2011- Sweet Sixteen! Although Jennifer's birthday was in November, we ended up getting our licenses around the same time. Of course, this wasn't before I had a complete meltdown in the car during a behind-the-wheel session. It was my first time driving, and the instructor told me to yield on green and I didn't really know what that meant. Needless to say, tears ensued. Not to worry, though, Jennifer and I both passed our driver's tests the first time!

April 2011- Royal Wedding Party. So all of us were basically OBSESSED with the royal wedding. We were those people constantly talking about it, and we kept on top of all the developing news regarding the nuptials. Naturally, all of us woke up at 3:00 that Friday morning to watch the wedding of the year on live television. And it was beautiful. Later that night, we celebrated Wills and Kate with a Royal Wedding Tea. We all dressed up in our best dresses and jewelry, and snacked on tea sandwiches, petit fours, scones, cake balls, cupcakes, and of course, tea. Maggie even found copies of the actual wedding invitation online and wrote our names in. So legitimate, and so much fun. If I recall, we went to Dairy Queen afterwards, which isn't at all surprising. 

Summer 2011- This was the first summer that everyone could drive. It was packed with our classic "basement parties," Dairy Queen runs, movie nights, and time at the lake. However, a basement party would not be complete without a round of extreme twister, as exhibited in the picture above.

Summer 2011- My sisters and I traveled to Europe with our school's art club. We visited ten cities in 5 different countries over the course of two weeks. So much fun! The trip is still one of my fondest memories of my high school years. Here we are with Nichole and John standing outside of where the Potsdam Conference was held.

September 2011- This is one of my favorite pictures of all time. This was taken at my friend Timmy's house after a football game. We decided to try the new owling fad. This is before the rigor of AP had really set in, as all of us aren't looking tired yet.

December 2011- NHS induction. All of our hard work paid off!

Ah, the infamous Diet Coke photo. This truly sums up my junior year. Faced with the stress of three AP classes, including AP history, I resorted to drinking, on average, 3 cans of Diet Coke per night. This is what the trash can in my room looked like after a long week of studying.

Our AP U.S. History class. Still my favorite class of all four years. Yes it was extremely challenging. Yes I sometimes felt like giving up. However, we had the best group of people and we all helped each other deal with the stress. This involved group panics via text at 2 am, viscously printing wikinotes in the media center in the mornings, and consuming baked goods in class every Monday. Our favorite dessert of all time was caramel brownies. We all had a love hate relationship with the American Pageant. We all made the class a lot of fun, as did our teacher. The few, the proud, the marines. The cream of the crop.

Yearbook- My sisters and I, as well as Marion and Lindsey were all editors of the yearbook. Being an editor has been so much fun, and I love the experience it has given me in the realm of journalism. Our staffs the past two years have had some pretty fun times, and we have been able to accomplish a lot. We've had so much fun filming commercials, putting the book together, and developing our theme. This year's book is amazing and we are so proud of it!

Junior prom! We had so much fun! My sisters and I were Junior Class officers and helped plan the entire thing. Our theme was "Night in Paris," and it was awesome!

Junior year marked the beginning of the college search process. We made a trip to Philadelphia to visit some east coast schools. Here we are at Swarthmore.

Senior homecoming! That HC week was so fun! As seniors, we got to choose the theme and plan the week's festivities. We chose a Disney theme, and it was fantastic! Here's our homecoming group (26 people, naturally.) Taking this picture on the dock was nerve racking!

January 2013- March for Life, Washington, D.C.

Traveling to D.C. with my class for the March for Life was an amazing experience. We all united for a cause that we believe in. The March itself was breathtaking.

TWIRP 2013-Black, White and Bling.

Although TWIRP turned into a casual dance, it was still great. Probably the best TWIRP yet! (Complete with horsemasks of course)

March 2013- Brigadoon

Participating in the school musicals at Central have been one of my favorite activities. I have served as the costume designer for the past four years. This year, we did a Scottish musical, so there was lots and lots of plaid.

Senior Prom! We had thirty people in our group (classic), so getting a group photo was a struggle. However, I love how candid some of the pictures turned out.

Now for some pictures of the final days with the best senior class I could ask for....

Our senior retreat. This day was definitely emotional. We heard compelling speeches by our classmates, played games, and of course, ate a lot of food.

Wearing our college t-shirts

The last four years have been truly amazing. The pictures here only account for a few of the tons of great experiences, friendships, classes, and people I have encountered. I will always look back on my time at Central Catholic with a smile. 

I guarantee that when I walk out those doors today, there will be tears. 

I'm going to miss my classmates, friends, and teachers.

It's normal.

However, it's time to move on, new experiences, people, and places await.

I think these Hannah Montana lyrics sum things up well enough:

So I'm moving on

Letting go
Holding on to tomorrow
I've always got the memories while I'm finding out who I'm gonna be
We might be apart but I hope you always knowYou'll be with me wherever I go
Wherever I go

Stay Stylish, Stay Classy, Be Creative

Emily