On the wall at hostel, right outside my room, there is a quote by Dr Seuss that goes “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory”. Our lives are made up of many moments, and often we find ourselves looking back at old memories fondly, wishing we could go back, yet in that moment, as it was happening, we perhaps didn’t appreciate it as we should’ve. 

Often, my parents will tell me that their years at high school were some of the best years of their lives, but there’s no way they had a perfect run at it, that they never felt the stress of exams, never had a pile of internals that they didn’t want to do, never felt homesick at boarding school and so on. 

At some point, I’m sure many of us may have found ourselves having a bad day or a stressful week, and have wished for the moment to end. In doing this, we forget all the good that is happening to us and only look at the negatives. But these negative aspects of a moment aren’t what matter most, rather it’s the friendships, fun and the opportunities that make our moments at high school so special. Or perhaps we’ve just found ourselves racing from one task to the next, not leaving time to appreciate those around us. We’re all in this five year journey of high school together, experiencing the highs and lows as they come, and making some truly special memories. 

So why do we let the negative aspects of a moment taint all of the good? Rather, let’s look around and be grateful for those around us, the experiences that we are living, and appreciate these times. As a year thirteen, approaching the end of my time here at school, I can entirely mean it when I say I’m really going to miss this place and this time of my life, no matter how many times I’ve complained to my friends. It’s the laughter, the learning, the self growth, and the shared moments with friends that I will take from here, and I’m sure you all will too. So let’s enjoy our time at high school, and not spend it wishing these moments away, awaiting the next, because these moments will soon become treasured memories that will last us a lifetime.