Here, life begins and ends.
Feet planted on the blocks,
hands barely grazing the starting line. 
"On your marks,"
my heart thumps in my chest. 
"Get set,"
I feel it pounding on my ribs.
"GO!"
I walk across the stage,
gilded cap and gown flutter around me 
pomp and circumstance drown out the cheering crowd,
I am off. 
Beginning a new chapter, 
opening a new yearbook.
It begins with a hundred "Goodbyes"
to my family, my friends, my school.
I begin a new life,
in a new city,
making new friends,
as a hundred "goodbyes" become a thousand "hellos."