<b>By Grace Stewart</b>

You’re 18 years old. It’s May. You can see the finish line. The date of your last exam is quickly approaching. Only thing stopping you? You.

Aaaah, Springtime in Beaufort, just about summer. It will soon be the start of sun-kissed skin, soccer on the beach, sandbar frolics and unforgettable family vacations. However, sorry to burst your bubble but, ahem, we’re not quite there yet! As I previously stated in one of my past articles, senioritis was bad last fall and the unrelenting battle rages on.

The home stretch is filled with so many exciting new plans and events, so many “lasts” that it is becoming difficult to pay attention to what is at hand, which is the rest of your school work and final exams. Come on, you have to finish it off with a bang! Whether you are in eighth grade and so ready to move onto high school, or a senior who is already mentally at college, most students still have final exams. As my dad told me my entire life (I hate to say he is right), “Buckle down and get to it, EVERYTHING COUNTS!” My “buckling down” starts right about now. This is the time to put the phone away, sit at that desk and keep my eyes glued to my book. My finish line is that last AP exam and class project. Just like running a race, I’m trying to “finish strong.”If I can do it, I know for sure that you can.

I once read a quote by Henry Ward Beecher that said, “The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.” At first I laughed because it sounds like something my grandpa or dad would say. Then I realized that it really is true: If you really don’t want to do something, you won’t. However, if you have a very strong will, then you can achieve it. The biggest obstacle to achievement is your own will. Life is full of successive finish lines, each one placing you closer to your goals in life.

As for my fellow class of 2013 friends and their families, enjoy every single second of the rest of your year. Even though I am the oldest in my family and I have not had firsthand experience of what the process of leaving your high school en route to college, I have seen and talked to many others who later realized what a special time it was. Everything will change, they said, you will have so much more responsibility they said, and most for of all, it will be the best time of your life. Here’s to running through that finish line ribbon! Good luck.