The subtle ding of the bell mixed with the conclusion of a lecture about American Government ends second hour.  I make my way from the South Six to Freshmen Hall. It is time for Spanish. Señora Schendel greets me with a bubbly “Hola chica!” as I sit down and prepare for class to begin.

Some days I chat with friends, and on others I make final touches on my homework as I wait for the final bell to ring. However, every single day I glance at the glistening white board to check the countdown to Spring Break.

The number is currently eight. While in class I feel great excitement for the continually decreasing number. I slip into a daydream. The thought of warm beaches and a week with my best friends sounds slightly more appealing than learning about the subjunctive verb form. However the sad reality hits me and my reverie quickly ends.

When we return from spring break, we will only have approximately 58 days until graduation. That means only 58 days left of high school, 58 days left going to school with my sisters, and 58 days left attending Notre Dame de Sion: the place that has become my home.

My heart drops and I suddenly begin wishing the countdown to spring break would begin increasing instead of continuing to decrease. This school year has gone by faster than any before. Freshmen Orientation seems like it was yesterday, and yet fourth quarter of senior year is rapidly approaching.  The more I begin pondering the fact senior year is almost complete, the more melancholy I feel. How, in 67 days, can I just be expected to be done with everything I have come to love these past four years. While the future and college is exciting, it is hard for me to leave this life I love so dearly.

Thinking about college is quite thrilling. New everything: new friends, new school, new city. I am quite sure the sadness I feel now from having to leave my blissful life here in Kansas will soon be replaced with a sweet love for my new life awaiting me in Columbia.  However, the foreseeable joy that all of us in the class of 2014 will find in college does not make the goodbyes any easier.

As much as I want to pause time, inevitably, the hands on the clock continue to move, the sun rises and the sun sets, time passes and life goes on. We can not stop the moment but we can seize the moment. No matter how badly I may want to stay at Sion forever, I must accept the fact I am growing up.  All  seniors must learn to live in the moment, enjoy every second we have remaining together, and not wish the days away.  It is such a bitter feeling to eventually have to say goodbye, but thinking of all that awaits us is nothing but sweet.

In the midst of Spanish class the sweetest memories overwhelm me. I think all the way back to freshman year. From Freshmen Retreat, to the infamous Freshman Mixer in broad daylight, to beanies, to the simple firsts of everything. My favorite memory from freshman year, however, sits at the forefront of my mind: signing the new chapel floor. Inscribing my name onto the wood that would eventually become our sacred space made me feel like I was truly initiated into Notre Dame de Sion and as though I was an important part of the international Sion community.

From signing the chapel floor, my mind floats to sophomore to junior to senior year. All the glorious all-school masses, Grande Assemblees, Sion Olympics, Father-Daughter dances, and the multitude of other special events that make Sion so much more than just an extraordinary college preparatory school; all the special events that make Sion my home.  I also reminisce on all I have learned through my time in high school.

Sion has taught my classmates and me more than just academics. Sion has taught us how to serve others, accept everyone and has helped our hearts to grow larger than the world.  We must now take what we have learned here at Sion, and spread it to the world. Although we may leave Sion, Sion will never leave us.