It arrives with the start of fall, when the air crackles with a crisp coolness and the day fades away hours earlier than expected. We all rise up out of bed, hair askew and face pink and blotchy ready to return to the only lives we’ve ever known. The murky sea foam green of our lockers sprayed against the stark beige walls, the heavy traffic of students on their way to next period, and the faint smell of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes wafting from the cafeteria; they all make our school, they all make us. But, after thirteen years of life in Nanticoke, what do we come away with? Who are the Trojans?

Throughout the course of our years here at GNA, all of us must have come into contact with at least five essential qualities of character: Ambition, Respect, Pride, Spirit and Dedication: at one point we have seen them evident whether good or bad, and roaming our hallways. Ambition in the hours and hours swept away within scribbled handwriting and take home-papers littering our floors like fallen leaves. In the closely-watched fluctuation of GPAs, in the time spent in the fluorescent glow of the computer screen in the dead hours of night, and in the days spent volunteering and servicing the community in order to fill up the blank white pages of a college application. Ambition in the slick swipe of the ball rolling against the palm of your hand, in the back and forth of running laps as the pounding of dozens of feet echo in your ears, in the score clock of the game while it counts down to either your demise or victory, and in the huddle with your teammates, your breaths intermingling as you make one last effort to place the Trojan name upon the highest pedestal.

Respect, perhaps the most important, cannot even be defined into a single category. Maybe it is only self-respect you have learned during your high school career. The ability to walk away from meaningless opinions, and to leave behind confrontations, being able to turn away from those who drag you down into the darkened depths with their sneering words and whispered comments. The common sense to dress as you feel comfortable, whether bold or reserved, and to push yourself physically and mentally in an effort to put yourself into a prospective future position, continuing to strive further and further until you swear you can fly. A respect for who you are now, and who you will one day be. Or, on the other hand, perhaps you have acquired a respect for others. The ability to encourage rather than criticize, to stand alongside someone as a friend, and to accept other people’s opinions and feelings for what they are. To be someone whom you yourself wouldn’t mind having around.

Pride and Spirit go hand in hand; they’re in the wave of red, white, and blue, swirling together as fiercely as the waves of the ocean, in the bleachers of the stadium, the shouts of hundreds of voices intermingling together as the pounding of student feet reverberate around like a rumbling earthquake. They’re in the honking of morning parades as waving teens and blaring music slowly awaken the sleeping city of Nanticoke to the early morning sun. They’re in the week that we dedicate completely to our team, in the dress down, the football games, and in the dance. And they’re in the masses of bodies racing down to the floor of the gym, churning together as the weightless are lifted up upon the shoulders of the crowd and voices rise in unison. “I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!” They’re in the hallways, they’re in the classrooms, and they’re in us.

And lastly, there’s determination, silently residing below the surface as resilient as sharpened steel. It shows itself in the most unanticipated of ways and tacitly intervenes when least expected. It’s in the dozens of hands placing up banners upon the stark beige walls, decorating the school in phrases of encouragement and pride. It’s in the trumpeting of the band as red, white, and blue whirl through the wind on the shoulders of the color-guard like a Trojan hurricane. It’s in the lap after lap of the sports teams, the churning of breath on the field and in the gym, bringing a rosy color to the cheeks and beads of sweat on the brow. And it’s in the endless nights in front of the incandescent light of the computer screen as our papers pile up and our eyelids droop from exhaustion.

Ambition, Respect, Pride, Spirit, Determination – they’re all there, though we might not always see them. Without these essential qualities, we wouldn’t be the Trojans we are today. But, because of our time in this school, roaming these hallways, we will all continue to keep these merits in our hearts and in our heads. During the rest of our lives they will guide us, creating for us a smooth path on which to walk. For once we become a Trojan, in the end, we will always continue to be one. So, now in thanks, we salute you GNA, and we’ll cherish you through all our days.