With music playing and chalk scattered across the pavement, seniors spent the day transforming the courtyard into a colorful display of where they’re headed next. College logos, mascots, and school colors slowly stretched across the ground, each one representing a different future while together capturing the excitement of a class on the verge of its next chapter.

What makes Chalk Day so special is not simply the destinations themselves, but the chance to see them side by side. While many students announce their college decisions through screens and social media posts, Marymount’s seniors spend the last quarter of the school year celebrating them together, in community. Beneath every logo is a story years in the making—filled with hard work, late nights, uncertainty, growth, and the support of classmates, faculty, counselors, and families who helped make those futures possible.

For Reese J. ’26, who will attend Barnard College this fall, taking part in Chalk Day felt surreal. “It honestly didn’t feel real,” she shared. “For the last three years, I’ve walked by and watched seniors do this, and now I was the one sitting there drawing my college logo. I truly got emotional.”

At this point in the year, so much begins to shift. Traditions become “lasts,” routines begin to change, and graduation suddenly feels close enough to touch. Chalk Day captures that feeling in real time. As each student adds their mark to the courtyard, the space becomes a reflection of both who the Class of 2026 has been together and where they are now headed individually.

By the end of the afternoon, the courtyard had become more than pavement covered in chalk. It became a snapshot of the Class of 2026 at this exact moment: standing at the edge of what comes next, proud of where they’ve been, and ready for where they’re going.