As the end of the school year approaches, I am met with the uncomfortable truth that I only have eight weeks left of high school.
After those eight weeks, everything that was once my life and routine will diminish, I will enter a new routine and, essentially, a new life.
The excitement about what my life will be like after these eight weeks is almost overpowered by the regret I have about how I spent the past seven months of my last year of high school and the fearfulness of moving forward.
However, this feeling is not unique to me. Every student experiences the realization of how fast time moves, especially in high school.
It is as if your time in high school is a rope you are holding on to, slowly watching it snap gradually until finally, it does. You know the rope will snap, so you anticipate it, but you also see how little breakage there is. You think you have plenty of time until the rope snaps. And then, as if no time went by, it does.
But what if instead of simply waiting for the rope to snap because you know that you can do nothing to stop it, you made the most of the time you had left before it did?
The finite time that high school students, especially the class of 2025, has left poses the same question: How can we find a meaning in the fleeting moments we have left rather than try to chase a false permanence? How can we accept that we only have a small amount of time left in a way that motivates us to make the most of it, not to run away from the fear of it ending?
The expectation that seniors have to make their last year the “best” has the power to become overwhelming. In trying to force every moment to be meaningful, it can do the exact opposite.
For example, I have always had high expectations for school dances. Looking forward to them for months and even planning them builds up my excitement and the expectation that it will be a great night. One way or another, something has always managed to spoil my mood.
When I’ve tried to force moments to be unique, unforgettable, and meaningful, it always makes them worse.
Meaning does not come from big, planned moments—it comes from the unexpected ones, the moments when you have no expectations for them at all.
It is also possible to miss the moments that you are still experiencing. Nostalgia does not have to be limited to past things you long for. The moments you are experiencing and the memories you are making right now can still have the capacity to bring up a bittersweet and nostalgic feeling.
I can enjoy a moment so much, knowing that I will look back on it and acknowledge that one day, I will miss it.
Perhaps that is the very reason why it is important to make meaning in the fleeting moments and passage of time. No moment lasts forever. Once that is recognized – and so is the knowledge that one day you will look back on this moment wishing you were reliving it – we can hold ourselves accountable to staying present and appreciating it for what it is.
Everyday moments—car rides with friends, walking to classes, big hangouts on the weekends—all felt rather mundane. Showered in routine, it was the norm to spend my time this way. But as I look back on them, I think of the goodness and meaning that came out of those “mundane” moments and the meaningfulness that will come out of the things I am currently experiencing.
Let go of your fear that time is passing faster than you are growing. The more you allow yourself to become overwhelmed with the thought of how much time has passed, or your lack of time, is only taking more time away from you.
It is okay if you aren’t where you thought you would be by now, and it is OK if the plans you once had for yourself have changed. Do not let that scare you, and do not let that stop you from continuing to move forward.
To the juniors, it is okay if your “dream school” doesn’t work out. Sometimes, the things that don’t work out in your life are simply not meant to, and that is the most comforting thing that you can remind yourself (believe it or not).
I once thought that my life would end if Auburn rejected me. I had a fear towards the entire plan I had about the future. But now, I am grateful that I received that rejection letter. Getting rejected is a blessing, because although I was fearful of change, the growth resulting from that is far more significant than any acceptance letter I have ever received.
Accepting time’s passage and the changes in your life does not mean you have to lose what matters to you. Allow time to go forward; when it does, carry yourself and everything you value forward with it.
Meaning isn’t found in stopping time. It is in appreciating a moment while it is happening. Perhaps we would never value anything at all without looking back at the things, the people, and the places that we miss.
After all, meaning is not something we are meant to chase after. When we do chase it, it diminishes its significance. Rather, meaning is something that is noticed in the moments when significant things take place.
