Yesterday, I was walking up from my house to Thacher on a warm spring evening, around 6:30. The sun was beginning to go down, and the Ojai Valley was coated in a soft orange color that matched the blooming orange blossoms that make the valley so famous. It is the spring of my junior year, and I can hardly believe that I have gotten to where I am today. Each day throughout my journey at Thacher felt incredibly slow, as I thought about the next segment of my day. I was always thinking about the next part of the day; getting through classes, finishing sports practice, going to formal, finishing all of my homework during study hall, then getting up and doing it all over again. Now, I realize how fast everything moved, and how many times I forgot to stop and appreciate everything that has happened at Thacher. Yesterday, it occurred to me that my Thacher career is beginning to come full circle. I am, in 3 weeks time, going to be the very senior that awed me, intimidated me, and mentored me when I walked into Lower School nearly 4 years ago. So yesterday I stopped walking, looked all around me, and took a moment to think about where I’ve been, where I am, and where I will be in the year to come. I continued to walk, after my moment of clarity, with a grin on my face bigger than that of the Cheshire Cat. I had finally made it. I was finally approaching my senior year.