It is always a bittersweet time. "Exit interviews".... The words are innocuous enough; very routine sounding. However, they signify an event that resonates with a depth of meaning that is hard, if not impossible, to fully comprehend for those grade 12 students completing them. All that has gone before is now a passing collection of thoughts and experiences to be reflected upon as the 17 year old stands on the edge of the precipice. The end of one way of life and the beginning of a new, adult and independent, life. As I sit and listen to their earnest reflections about life as it was in high school, the journey from childhood to young adulthood, I can't help but feel honoured to be witness to the intimate inner journey that each student is sharing with me. And yet .... they are busy...time is short. There are many things to get done in the last semester of grade 12. The exit interview is just another item to check off the list .... and yet .... it is more ... much more. Each student calmly surveys where they have been over the past five years. Some offer valid suggestions about how our already wonderful high school could be improved. We talk. We go about the business of completing the interview. After all, it is a graduation requirement. And yet, we are both aware of an unspoken presence in the room with us. A looming, somewhat ominous presence that is slowly beginnng to impose it's full weight upon the consciousness of the 17 year old sitting in front of me. Leaving home and family. Leaving the safe nest that FHSS has been for five years. Living alone. Doing laundry and shopping and paying bills and .... the list is endless... and unknown at this point. There is a tinge of anxiety ... perhaps even fear ... tempered by excitement and a sense of adventure ...and .... wonder. The unspoken reality is....adult life is about to begin .... am I ready ? What will become of me .... ?
