It’s so interesting to think that four years ago we were all freshmen finishing up our first year of high school looking up at the senior class, watching them graduate and just thinking, “Oh that’ll be us one day,” and now that day is here. 

Whether you’re graduating with people who you’ve known since kindergarten or middle school, it’s still crazy that we have all gone this long together and shared all these experiences.             

Now we’re all going to be parting ways. 

I think Dimond was an amazing place to spend my four years of high school and I know that a lot of other seniors feel the same. 

Dimond has a community environment and it’s really amazing how we all have connections and care for one another. 

I wanted to ask other Dimond seniors how they feel looking back at their  high school experience and what their future plans are or what they’re looking forward to.

 Dimond Senior Ian Cruickshank said, “My most memorable part of high school was cross-country regions my junior year when Dimond had all seven runners in the top eight.” 

For a lot of these high school athletes that was the highlight of their high school experience because they were able to have that competition and team experience.

“Looking back on my  time at Dimond I have very few regrets but something I wish I did do differently was try more things like Student Government and cross-country running earlier.

 “I am looking forward to meeting new people in college after graduation because at this point I feel like I know everyone here in Anchorage” 

A really important part of high school is being involved and that’s something I also regret not doing more of because I do think that it’s really important to have that involvement in the school to make your high school experience better. 

As important as our relationships that we have a Dimond are, it’s also really exciting to be able to leave and think about meeting new people because that’s a part of life. 

Dimond Senior Michael Flaherty said, “The thing I love most about high school was the people you get to meet and seeing so many good people every day.”

The one thing that I know everyone a Dimond is going to reflect on for the rest of their lives is their relationships that they made in high school.

“The thing I’m going to miss most is all the people I have met and become friends with.”

Dimond senior Grayson Doucet said, “The most memorable part of my  senior year was being able to have our school sports even with Covid.”  

For a lot of these athletes Covid took a big toll on what their normal athletics were supposed to be. Dimond and the Anchorage School District did a good job trying to include that to make sure that they could get sports back to as normal as possible.

Our senior year was not ideal. 

We were not able to get normal experiences that we would have otherwise. 

However, I am so grateful for the Dimond staff for making this year the best it could be considering the circumstances, and it’s not over yet. 

Every single Dimond senior should be so proud of themselves for making it through these tough times and just High School in general. 

You all deserve to give yourselves a pat on the back because you did it. 

Congratulations Class of 2021!