The final bell is approaching, and for the Class of 2025, it’s more than just the end of a school year, it’s the end of a chapter that shaped them in ways they’re only just starting to understand.
Starting freshman year behind a mask, unsure of what the next four years would hold. Virtual classes, social distancing, and missed milestones marked their early days of their high school journey.
But they overcame and got to experience achievements like; Prom night, district titles, early morning chaos during Senior Assassin, and the emotional roller coaster of last performances and last classes. The seniors are saying good-bye not just to a school, but to a version of themselves they’re now leaving behind.
“It’s wild,” senior Allison Rodas said, “I remember walking in as a freshman, scared out of my mind, and now I’m a completely different person.”
And there’s plenty to reflect on this year. The theater company brought home a National District Championship and Occoquan Regional Championship win and placed fourth in the State Championship with their one act play, Juliet Wakes up, that had the crowd roaring and the judges in awe.
The marching band earned a prestigious Blue Ribbon at regional competition, and Prom was a sparkling blur of laughter, heels in hand, and swaying under fairy lights like something out of a movie.
“I danced for like three hours straight,” senior Maria Alfaro said. “My feet were on fire, I had to take my heels off.”
But senior year wasn’t all glitter and gold. It was the small moments like sitting on the floor of a favorite teacher’s room during lunch, sprinting across the parking lot for one last tardy slip, having to sign the tardy google sheet or sneaking around bushes in the parking lot for Senior Assassin that made it unforgettable.
“Senior Assassin was straight chaos,” Rodas said. “I spent a full week carrying a floaty everywhere just so I could walk around safely. I lost in the dumbest way.”
Through the laughter, there’s also a quiet heaviness settling in for students and staff. These good-byes are real. The ‘lasts’ have started piling up, last class, last performance, last hallway high-five to security guards, and last final exams. And while college, jobs, and new adventures await, there’s something sacred about your high school graduation after 12 years of school.
“I cant wait to get out of here. There wasn’t anything special about senior year,” senior Bresly Barrios said. “I just have to do it all over again in college.”
Senior year felt faster than expected and it carried the weight of everything that came before it: pandemic learning, shifting friend groups, awkward growth spurts, and personal wins no one ever saw.
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the real magic of senior year. It’s not just the ending it’s the proof that you were here, you grew, you mattered.
“It’s kind of weird that it’s already over,” said senior Shemaa Elhassan, who’s heading to George Mason University in the fall to study computer science. “You spend so much time in high school that it just feels normal, and now we’re moving on.” Shemaa said her time at AHS helped her figure out what she wanted to do. “I didn’t really know anything about coding when I started,” she said. “But taking computer science classes here made me realize I liked it, and now that’s what I’m going to college for. AHS gave me a space to figure that out.”
As they walk toward graduation, the Class of 2025 isn’t just stepping into the future. They’re leaving footprints behind—in the form of victories, laughter, and memories that will echo through the halls long after they’ve gone.
Good-bye, senior year. Thanks for everything.
