This summer, the class of 2017 will spend their remaining time in Arcadia differently. After graduation, some will remain in a close vicinity to their hometown, while others will fly thousands of miles away. And so this summer, no longer chained to summer school work or worries about applying to college, seniors will have a few months completely to their desires.

Like many, senior Caitlin Tran plans on spending time with her family over the summer. For Caitlin, her aunt and grandparents are visiting from Australia, and she wishes “to spend as much time with them as possible” before they leave for another couple of years. With her mother and sister, Caitlin thought of taking a trip to Hawaii since before she had been busy with school and percussion.

A must for all seniors is to go on adventures with friends, whether it’s to the beach or to Northern California by car. Caitlin wants to “go to as many boba places on [her] Yelp itinerary as possible” during her free time when she isn’t working at Little Harvard. Others, like senior Sophia Wei, have started talking about camping trips and visiting different states with their friends. These little trips, as fun as they can be, are tinged with sadness, as they may be one of the last adventures seniors will take before leaving.

There are many students who are planning on going to a school in California who still feel the tug on their heartstrings about leaving Arcadia. It’s bittersweet for many who were raised in Arcadia and are attached to this city; Arcadia is a safe haven, a bubble isolated from the real world. The people we have known since elementary school are now “going off on their own paths” and “it’s somewhat sad that we’re all separating,” according to Sophia.

Some of those who are leaving for school outside of California are surprisingly not too worried about leaving Arcadia. Senior Charles Xu, who is attending Williams College this fall, is more worried about the cold weather and academic rigors in Massachusetts than his departure from California. He expressed excitement for the “new possibilities and adventures” from traveling across the country.

For everyone, the extent of our excitement really lies in the fact that we are jumping deep into unknown. Those who are dorming and living far from home might find it frightening yet thrilling to know that we will be in a completely different environment. Some will struggle with adapting, while others will thrive and bloom into their true characters. Every freshman in college will struggle in one way or another, but we will look back on our warm memories from Arcadia and find perseverance and strength in them.