Student Editorial By: Guadalupe Del Campo, Robert E. Lee High School Junior

Memorizing facts, listening to teachers talk for hours, essays due by midnight - and having to balance your own personal life outside of the classroom on top of all that. And I start to think, where’d all the time go? I wish I could just go back to kindergarten, where my biggest concern in the world was making sure I knew how to count to a hundred, or better yet - graduate and get it all over with. Now instead of crying over a scraped knee, I cry over my math homework. When did letters get involved anyway? These are supposed to be the best years of my life, childhood and adolescence. Yet all I, and others like me, do is take them for granted. We want to be adults - independent, mature, we want to be grown-up.

But I'm here to tell my fellow warriors in the battle we call school, it’s not just about the grades, awards, or your class rank. It’s not even about the clubs you’re in or your extracurricular involvement. Our school years are so much more. They’re about those small, unforgettable moments that we’ll miss once we’re out of school. I mean, just a couple of years ago, I was convinced flying cars were to be the norm by the time I was a high schooler. It’s almost weird to even think about how much has changed since then. The mentality, maturity levels, aspirations and dreams.

Back in grade school, I remember looking at the middle school girls as if they were royalty. The ones who didn’t have babyish bows in their hair, with cool non-themed backpacks and even mascara on their lashes. The cool girls who knew way more than I did. In middle school I did the same, looking up to the “trendy” high school girls. But as I transitioned into that “trendy” high school girl, the only thing I truly worried about was getting older. The realization that the years of measuring my life in school-years are coming to an end, which in a way meant my childhood was too. Somewhere in between the chaos of impossible science projects, deadlines, and the curiosity of what the future upholds, I never truly slowed down to appreciate what I had around me. Always looking ahead, never realizing the present is right here - it’s now.

It’s bittersweet. I truly wouldn’t exchange my memories for the world. As I carry on with the remainder of my time as a student, I’ll reflect about the sweet, ephemeral flow of time in between my late night study sessions. So this is not only a reminder to my peers to make the most out of your school years, but a tribute to the forever students who once walked the halls I have, and the future students who will one day walk the halls we once walked. School isn’t just a building, it’s a timecapsule of our youth, ugly and all. Those four walls we gripe about right now will someday hold our memories, history, and love.