With the class of 2024 picking up their caps and gowns, making their summer plans, and emotionally preparing for the walk across the stage at graduation, many of us underclassmen are mourning the fact that we’re being left behind. With every day, the reality of our senior friends moving on from high school becomes increasingly apparent. However, what hits even harder is the truth that we’ll be in their shoes in the blink of an eye.

In the case of the X-Ray, this production week has been a change-over from past editors. As we let our seniors say their final goodbyes and our new editors learn how to lead, it’s daunting to be faced with the reality of change. With change comes responsibility, with change comes unfamiliarity–all things that we as humans try our best to shy away from.

But change, ironically, is a constant in life. Time and time again, we’ll be met with change that feels like the end of the world. Oftentimes, to try to prepare ourselves for this change, we imagine ourselves saying goodbye before it’s necessary. We miss what once was while we’re still living in what will soon become the past.

However, if we act like we’re already saying goodbye, we’re missing out on the little time we have left. We talk about “the good old times”, but we fail to recognize when we’re living in those moments. Living in our fear of the future takes away from the enjoyment we can experience in the present, so it’s important to recognize when we’re becoming ungrounded in the moment.
So we can change the way we look at these euphemisms by living through “the good old days” to “stop and smell the roses.” It’s important to remember to make the most of the time you have. Prioritize these memories; these high school years are the most formative years of our lives and potentially not the best. If we let time get away from us, before we know it, we’re thrust into the monotony of real life.

Don’t fear the future, but don’t wish away the time that you have left.