After the first dozen names, I was no longer listening. The speaker’s voice and the continuous applauses were just sounds in the back of my mind.

I fought the memories that threatened to fill me; it was neither the time nor the place for these recollections. But now that I look into my memories and remember that day, it very well may have been.

We had all spent what appeared to be the best years of our lives inside those halls. How could we not feel the way we felt? We were leaving a school, a castle, a home; call it whatever you like. Either way, we were leaving behind a part of our lives.

In the years before that moment, when we thought about it, all we thought about was the moment when we would be free. And then, when the freedom was finally given to us, we didn’t want to take it. Perhaps, it was because it was no longer as tempting as it had been. The studies, the tests, the homework, and the detentions with some professor who clearly hated us were so much more preferable to the unknown world we were now facing. Our lives would no longer be lived inside the safety of some walls; we would now live in the real world. We were forced to face the truth: were no longer kids; we were adults.

Funny how a single moment, a few words, could make us realize that it was the end, the end of what we had always regarded as our whole life. While we were living it, we never thought that it would someday have to end, that it was only a small fraction of the whole.

Even as I looked into the mirror that morning and saw my reflection wearing those typical and meaningful robes, the thought of the end never crossed my mind. I felt as if I was in some sort of a dream; maybe I didn’t want to acknowledge what was really happening. I say the thought of the end never crossed my mind, but it did. Now that I think about it, it was there all along, ever since I went through those oak doors and entered a world I had never thought possible. Through all the wonderful and happy moments I lived there, there was always the nagging thought that made me realize I should enjoy those moments, for they weren’t going to last forever.

Then, seated among my classmates, I realized I had lost the battle. I felt a bit of regret at not watching the ceremony, but it was a long way until my name was called. (It is incredible how many last names begin with the first five letters of the alphabet.) I looked at the stone turrets not far away; the turquoise lake that reflected the cloudless sky above me; the giant trees that hid so many secrets; the loops through which I had watched so many balls go through, so many goals be scored… I regarded them one last time before closing my eyes. A little smile graced my lips as memories came flooding my mind…