As another school year comes to an end, the Xavier community must say goodbye to the class of 2018. The seniors are preparing to embark on this new chapter of their lives, but they took a step back during their Senior Walk to remember where they came from. The seniors travelled back to their elementary schools to walk the halls, in cap and gown, one last time.

Xavier’s first Senior Walk took place last year after Mr. Nick Ireland, Director of Marketing, saw photos of a Texas high school doing the same. He proposed the idea with the purpose of reinforcing the family connection in the Xavier community, inspiring future Saints, and giving the seniors a proper goodbye to their K-12 education.

Although these were the intended purposes, none of the seniors, parents, or teachers predicted the emotional impact that the walk would have on them. The walk created feelings of sadness and fear of letting go.

“Leading up to the walk, I was very ready to graduate and move on with my life and start my summer,” senior Erin Smith said. “I had a lot of bittersweet feelings after going on the walk because I realized that I have spent 13 years with all of these close friends, and now we only have a few days left together.”

For others, the walk reaffirmed their readiness to let go and move on from high school.

“The walk was a view of how far our class has come to get to this point of graduating,” senior Chase Wertzberger said. “At one point we were just like all those kids wanting to be the cool high schoolers, and now we are about to graduate. I am ready to leave; I feel like I have experienced and accomplished all the things I wanted to while I was here, and I am ready to move on to my next adventure in life.”

Even though this walk is dedicated to the seniors, the impact on the elementary school kids was just as large. At the end of the walk, the seniors had the opportunity to spend time with the kindergarteners and talk about their future plans.

“It was inspiring to see the faces of the kindergarteners light up when they saw the seniors,” Ireland said. “It was obvious that both the seniors and the kindergarteners were inspired to do something important in the future.”

Despite the different feelings evoked from the walk, the majority of the seniors can agree they are ready to create their own paths. The Senior Walk was just one of the many “lasts” the seniors will experience before graduation day on Sunday, May 20.

Syd Walther

News Writer