While walking through the woods, I saw many different things that caught my eye. I saw trees with leaves of various colors. Squirrels chased each other, and I spooked a deer, who also spooked me. It was a very nice day for a walk. The sky was bright blue with a few fluffy clouds, there was also a nice breeze. The season is fall, my favorite. I love looking at the leaves, watching the wildlife, and feeling the nice cool air surround me. While walking down a trail I looked off to my right and saw a tree that looked like it was on fire. The tree had a variety of orange and red leaves. Together they looked like fire, but when I took a closer look they were each different from the others.

I started thinking about leaves. I thought about how all the colors makes me happy. About how they all come together to make the tree beautiful. This was when I realized leaves come in the spring and leave in the fall. This in some ways is like people. We are born, live with our parents and then eventually we grow up and move out on our own. As leaves grow they hold on to the tree like a child holds on to a parent. They don't want to let go and be on their own.

The leaves on the trees huddle together on their branches. These branches are like families in a community. Each one is separate but they all come together. Every separate leaf represents the different people in a family. Each one looks a lot alike but as I get a closer look they all have something unique about them.

I also think of the students in my senior class when I look at these leaves. We have all watched each other grow. Some of us have taken interest in art classes, while others are in shop classes. Some have been involved in sports while others prefer acting on stage. We have all changed over the years, but we have always remained together. We will soon be graduating and moving on to other things. Some of us will go to college, while others may go straight off to the workforce.

We will all move on one by one to the rest of our lives, never knowing where we will end up. We will miss our old high school friends, but we will make new ones. We may end up in the same places as some of our former classmates, but the wind of life will lead us all to where we belong.

As it becomes time for the leaves to let go and move on to new things, they may be scared of the future like I am. But I can learn from the leaves. The future is scary for many people. I worry about picking the wrong college to go to, or picking the wrong thing to study. How am I going to pay for college? Where will I live? Sometimes we need to do what the leaves do. They don't know where they will end up, but they just let the wind take them where they belong. We can also do this. It's good to have some sort of plan to go by, but we can't plan exactly how the future will happen. We need to let go and let life happen and see where we end up. If we don't like where we go we can try over again until we find the right place.  

It also scares me to not know where I will be or what I will be doing ten years from now. I have an idea of what I will be doing, but I can never know for sure. I don't know what will happen or who I may meet that could change my life in ways I never would have thought.

As I let go of the tree and the wind of life takes me, I will always remember that the leaves do not know where they will end up, but they still let go. As senior year goes by I will think of all my fellow students, as well as myself, as the leaves in the fall. The leaves that light up the forest. But we all know we like the leaves will soon have to let go and move on to new things.

Looking at the forest around me calms my nerves. I am no longer worried about what the future holds, but instead I am excited to about where life will take me. The beautiful leaves will always remind me sometimes I need to let go and stop worrying.