So the time has come and seniors are rapidly approaching the tipping point where our childhood lives are ending and our adult lives are beginning – another era is ending. For me and the other 400+ seniors, 2021 not only marks the conclusion of our senior year but the end of our days walking the halls at Leonardtown High. Staying true to our school’s alma mater, “memories of dear Leonardtown”, these words symbolize a great deal to me as they represent the foundation and finalization of a personal family tradition.

In 1988 both my mom and my dad, not knowing each other, met for the first time at Leonardtown’s homecoming game. It was their freshman year. As everyone knows, the homecoming game is the night before the homecoming dance. This is the night my dad, of all nights, decided to ask my mom to go to the dance with him. Again, this is the first time my parents had ever actually held a conversation. My mom, being the free-spirited person that she is (even to this day), took a chance and said yes to this young boy. It was during those next four years that my parents became very good friends. And as they marked the beginning of their high school years with their freshman homecoming dance, they chose to end their years by attending their senior prom together which also marked the occasion of their first meet. It wasn’t until a few years later that they decided to get married.

Now I realize this is my senior article and it should be a reflection of my days as a Raider but, in all honesty, I feel my story started to write itself over two decades ago when a young boy met this free-spirited girl under the Friday night lights. I hope you can understand that there is so much more to my parents’ story but I offer you this short condensed version as a means of inspiration the same way it has always been inspirational to me. I recognize that growing up as a teenager in St. Mary’s County doesn’t seem spectacular in comparison to what we see in other parts of our country or what is seen on tv but, to me, my parents’ first meeting played out like a RomCom cliché.

Following in my parents’ footsteps and my two older sisters’ footsteps down these Leonardtown hallways seemed to be, no pun intended, big shoes to fill. I felt good grades would establish who I was as a student. I believed that the roles I chose to pursue would define me as a leader or label me as likeable or not. It wasn’t until this year, as a senior, that I truly understood why my parents chose to settle back here in the small town of St. Mary’s County. It was because of the people I would surround myself with, the friends I would make, and the relationships I would establish. This realization has allowed me to comprehend the true testament of what being a Raider is all about. So allow me to relay this realization to future Leonardtown graduates and underclassmen as I wish I would have learned this knowledge sooner; during your four short years here at Leonardtown, it is important to take chances, meet new people, and begin to write your story. You should learn who you are, what inspires you, where you want to go in life, so that you may one day, in the words of our alma mater, “be showered with pleasant dreams of what tomorrow brings”.

Leonardtown Alma Mater

 Memories of dear Leonardtown

We shall forever sing.

You have showered us

With pleasant dreams

 Shall guide us on our way,

To do our best and heed the past

In challenging every brand new day.