Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.


Starbulletin.com



Rant & Rave

By Melanie Yamada

Tuesday, September 12, 2000


Extending thanks
while there’s time

AS the days of summer end, I realize that it is now my turn to go off into the world.

Back in school, I thought this day would never come. So, I enjoyed my days of chatting in the cafeteria, partaking in school pep-rallies, dancing the night away at prom, and waiting for graduation.

But now it's all done! Now that I think about it, I feel that I've been zapped into a scary reality.

Although I am not the deeply sentimental type, I also realized that I did not give proper farewells to any of my friends or family.

How could I have been so selfish? I did not even express feelings of gratitude in my senior quote in the yearbook!

Maybe it was because I was still in high school mode. It was only after graduating that I went into a little shock.

Just a few weeks ago, my friend from school departed this island, heading for Missouri.

As I said, I am not the type of person that gets deep into sentiment, so I just bid my farewells and left the airport. How sad. She was leaving all her friends here, and we will all miss her.

Then I realized, "I'm next!"

The weeks went by faster than I thought and I still had not said my farewells to friends and family.

THEREFORE, in a final attempt toward a formal good-bye, I would like to say that it has been an honor growing up around such wonderful people. All the support, love, and guidance I have received is the best gift anyone could ask for.

To my parents, thanks for bringing me up the way that I am and even if you have annoyed me greatly about college this past summer, I love you and I will miss you.

To my family, teachers and mentors, thank you for supporting me and watching out for me.

Finally, to all my friends, thanks for all the fun times and laughs. I will never forget you and being the sentimental fool that I am now, I definitely will miss you guys. Keep in touch.

Words of advice to others who have yet to grow into adulthood: good luck and cherish every moment in time. Time goes by faster than you think!


Melanie Yamada is a 2000 graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute
who is attending Willamette University in Salem, Ore.



Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
Speak up by fax at 523-8509; by answering machine at 525-8666;
snail mail at P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802;
or e-mail, features@starbulletin.com



E-mail to Features Editor


Text Site Directory:
[News] [Business] [Features] [Sports] [Editorial] [Do It Electric!]
[Classified Ads] [Search] [Subscribe] [Info] [Letter to Editor]
[Feedback]



© 2000 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
https://archives.starbulletin.com