DOES IT BOTHER YOU? Time can’t stand still, and neither can we

When I was younger, I was always fascinated by hourglasses. I remember watching the sand filter through to the bottom, unable to fathom how this process occurred so quickly. Up until recently, I never viewed this concept as more than a simple curiosity from the mind of a naive 8-year-old. However, this previously distant memory has drifted to the top of my thoughts after I realized that, in the blink of an eye, I somehow ended up almost halfway done with senior year of high school. 

I feel that the concept of time is often overlooked and underappreciated. Since the senior class in particular had a good chunk of our high school experience eaten away by COVID-19, this is truly our first normal year of high school, and quite frankly, I feel that it’s not talked about enough. Even though we recognize all of the lost time and missed opportunities, we clearly don’t care enough to hold onto the time we have come to realize is not guaranteed.  Purchasing my senior backpack felt like yesterday, and although the days are long, the weeks are slipping away like grains of sand. 

College acceptances are rolling in and as students catch the unavoidable plague of senioritis, these next few months are being viewed as an inconvenient waiting period. But we’re already halfway through the year, and before we know it, we’ll take our last sprint to the doors to the senior parking lot. Soon enough we will turn in our last assignment, say the final goodbye to teachers we formed close bonds with and receive signatures on the empty pages of our yearbook that we will look back on decades from now. These fleeting moments seem routine now, but this time next year we will be nostalgically scrolling through photos. 

College talk and future plans seem to be consistent topics of discussion, as students eagerly await to turn over their tassels and embark on the next chapter of their lives. I know it sounds cheesy, but sometimes I wish time could just slow down or even pause, even if it’s for a second.  Living in the present is something I have been trying my best to accomplish, but I have found that to be extremely difficult when there is ever-present anticipation for the next milestone. 

Frivolous complaints are sprinkled throughout the halls. “I’m so tired” and “I want to go home” chorus in harmony between classes. I listen as underclassmen yearn to be in my position, because to them, the closer they are to graduating, the better. Even though the school days are often tedious, as the days left of my high school career slip away, I’ve lately found myself appreciating the small moments. From the unexpected friendships formed in a class, to the escaping of uncontrollable laughter in the dead middle of a lesson, I’ve come to realize that a wide variety of the highlights of my teenage experience have derived within the walls of WE from the hours leading up to the 2:35 bell. 

As I ponder this topic, my mind always directs me back to the hourglass. Mini victories and monumental milestones alike sift through the hourglasses of our lives before we can comprehend that they are happening. If there is one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s to discover the beauty of holding on to every grain of sand, every moment that you can, because before you know it they will all fall to the bottom.