Some 75 students are getting ready to leave the halls of Altona's W.C. Miller Collegiate for good. Today is graduation day.
Co-valedictorians Samantha Bueckert and Rory Pilkington say they have mixed feelings.
"It's really exciting, said Bueckert. "It's a little bit scary too though."
Pilkington calls the experience very surreal.
"We've put a lot of time and years into our education and just the fact that it's all coming to an end now is very sad. Bittersweet though for sure."
They agree that high school was great. But writing their valedictorian speeches made them realize the full impact of graduation on their lives.
"All the memories we've made here we're going to remember forever."
Bueckert has a message for all future graduates.
"You need to live in the moment and realize how great high school is and how much of an experience it is. Just live it up."
"It really flies by, that's for sure," adds Pilkington.
Looking back at her secondary years, Bueckert says her circle of friends grew out of her involvement in sports. She also remembers one teacher in particular - Marcy Falk.
"She cares a lot about her students. And she doesn't care about us [just] as students. I think she cares about us as friends. She actually helped me get into Providence [University College]. She's just great!"
A strong memory for Pilkington comes from her French Immersion class.
"Every year I was kind of with the same group of kids. I've definitely met some of my best friends through that. Again, another one of the teachers I'll always remember is my grade 12 French Immersion teacher, Dana Falk. She was also a teacher who just felt more like a friend and made it really easy to learn from."
Reflecting on the impact of going through grades 10 and 11 during the pandemic, Pilkington says those years made them appreciate seeing classmates face-to-face and spending their final year together.
Having a class made up of students from different communities was a good thing, adds Bueckert.
"From Rosenfeld, and Altona and Gretna, growing up we've always known them [or] known of them through sports or through other friends or from like church and stuff like that. It's been really cool to grow together. When you have so many different people coming together, it just makes it much better I think because you have so many different areas and people and personalities."
And that, is what both girls say with a big smile, "is what makes us, I guess, so awesome!"
After getting to know at least half their classmates in the community, coming together in junior and high school felt natural. Both students describe their collective class personality as outgoing, adventurous and caring.
Bueckert's post-graduation plans will take her to Providence University College in Otterburne to play volleyball and study biology. Pilkington has enrolled at Ontario's Carleton University to study aerospace engineering.