Perspective of a Year Two

By Alyona Glazyrina, Year Two, 2019

Somewhere in the back of my mind it’s still September 2017. I have just walked up the steps to enter into a world of wonder and delight. Walking over the threshold, I stop for a moment to think of my future and all the things I must do. Then I move forward, excited to meet my new classmates, with no idea in any of our heads of what lies in store for us.

In September 2018, nostalgia was already getting the best of me. I watched as the next generation followed in my footsteps. Walking through the halls, they stopped to read the newspapers on the walls that detailed the achievement of prior years. Then the Year Twos walk by, and the Year Ones tag along, their veins rushing with exhilaration on their very first day of Transition.

I’ve changed a lot since I first joined this wondrous community. I’ve become stronger, smarter, and kinder. I’ve learned what it is like to learn, to teach, to know, and to cherish. There’s nothing in this world I would change for my experience of UTP.  Each moment was a precious opportunity to become the best version of myself that I can be. My community pushed me to strive for more and to stretch myself to the limit, to reach for the farthest stars. Without their support, I would have never realized my full potential.

The school year is coming to a close. It is time to say goodbye and pass the torch to our Year Ones. Yet, I find myself hesitating at the thought of leaving. How could I walk away from this home I’ve built? From these people I care for? It slowly dawns on me that I’ll never truly be gone. Some part of me will always live in these walls. An echo, a presence, a memory of me that fills the hearts of new students with wonder and amazement. Perhaps that is what I felt on my first day: a ghostly presence guiding me towards the light.