To the senior class of 1998,

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the way we, as a class, are leaving the high school. I feel like we didn't come to terms with each other. We could never look past our own groups of friends and notice that there were other people, so we never really got to know each other.

This hits home for me because I'll be leaving for Arkansas, and I don't want people to think, "What ever happened to Kory, the loser?" but instead, "What ever happened to Kory, the person?"

I would like for you to know who I really am, before you graduate, and leave. This is hard for me, because as an evolving person, as all of you are, I still don't know exactly who I am. But I do know who I'm not.

This letter is basically an invitation. When you see me walking down the hall, I'd like you to take a minute to talk to me. Not just say "hi" when you see that I am the person who wrote this letter, but really talk to me, get to know me, and perhaps, you might even get to like me, and then we will both have benefitted from making a friend - someone that will help us continue to define ourselves on the journey we are facing.

I hope you all graduate, and have great lives. In all your success I hope you'll look back and remember, not just me, but each other, more deeply than you might have before you read this. Good luck!

- Kory Buren