Mindy sat at her desk, the hum of silence enveloping the classroom. The air was thick with tension as the clock ticked away the minutes. Her pencil hovered over the paper, thoughts racing through her mind as she glanced at the questions one last time.
Around her, classmates scribbled furiously, the only sounds being the scratching of pens and the occasional rustle of paper. Mindy felt a mixture of anxiety and excitement; this was the final hurdle before graduation.
She took a deep breath, focusing on the exam in front of her. As she wrote, the familiar rhythms of high school flashed through her mind—the laughter, the friendships, the challenges. Each question answered felt like a step toward closing a significant chapter of her life.