Six years ago, I walked up the steps to building six; I didn’t know a soul. I was a scared little 11-year-old going to a brand new school, full of unknowns.

I had just moved from Southern California to Fresno, leaving my mom, siblings and friends behind. Attending a private school where people have known each other forever was a scary feeling. Not going to lie, when my grandma first told me I would be going to FC, I cried.

Then I actually got here, and even though I did not know anyone, I quickly found friends thanks to the loving people I met. Once I was “initiated” into the FC family, I had no problems.

When I first walked up the steps, all I could think was, thank God for Lisa Raynes.

She walked up to me, having known me from weeks of filling out enrollment papers, and asked if she could walk me to class. When I let her, we walked up to Mr. [Terry] Richard’s classroom, where she introduced me to her daughter, Morgan [Childs, ’12]. To this day she is one of my best friends.

I remember how amazed I was that everyone was so nice. I made friends right away, and had no problems. Coming from an elementary school with 800 kids to a middle school with almost 2,000 and then coming to FC with a class size of around 85 (and that was a big class for FC) was so nice.

I actually knew all my classmates, not just recognized their faces from some class I had, but could actually have a conversation with them. And the teachers actually knew who you were and did not have to look down at a class list to figure it out.

Fast forward a few years and I’m going into high school and have to pick an elective. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I circled journalism.

Everyone told me it was fun and Stobbe repeatedly asked if I had joined, and I finally did. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved my years as part of The Feather. They have been long, and at points I’ve wanted to just up and quit, but in the end, I’m glad I took this class.

Thanks to being part of The Feather, I actually learned how to write a decent essay. Not to mention, got on Stobbe’s good side. Not only did I do these things, but I also made some amazing friends in the class thanks to having to work side-by-side for an hour every day.

Now that I’m almost done with high school, I find myself looking back at these past years almost as much as I’m looking forward to moving on. With graduation just weeks away, and really only two weeks of learning left, I find it really hard to focus on where I am now.

I keep catching myself dreaming about how I’m going to decorate my dorm, who my roommate will be and what kind of classes I’m going to have next year, or reminiscing about how these past years have gone.

In the midst of all the running around, studying for finals, playing sports, planning grad parties and trying to get all my family together in one space, I find myself losing track of what I really need to focus on, enjoying the last bit of time I have to be a kid and sit back and not have to worry about anything.

Although my parents and grandparents would say the most important thing would be studying for finals, to me it’s enjoying these last few weeks that I have with my best friends.

Even though most of my friends are staying in Fresno, I am heading down to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where I will be studying to become a Veterinarian. I want to enjoy the last bit of time that I have where my life is easy and I don’t have to worry about things.

My only concern with going away to college is losing everything I’ve gained in these past six years. All the amazing friends I’ve made, my relationships with teachers and not to mention, the home-cooked food. I’m really going to miss my friends, these bonds I’ve created I know cannot be easily broken. However, I know that some people who I talk to now, I may not be able to keep in close contact with all of them while I live four hours away.

I’m definitely going to miss the family atmosphere that I have here at FC. I know that at Pomona, with 20,000 people on campus, I won’t have those kind of bonds with everyone.

My advice to all the underclassmen is to work hard to get to where you want to be in life; for most of us, life doesn’t get handed to you on a silver platter. To get to where I am, I’ve had to study hard and really do some soul searching. Thank God I’ve had amazing friends, teachers, and parents helping me along the way.

For more opinion columns, read the May 3 article, Father-daughter relationship develops new insight.

Senior Raine Hayes will be attending California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in the fall.