As I put my grey blazer on and stare at my almost 18-year-old self in the mirror, it hits me that I am now a senior. I will embark on the college process, walk across the street to get a Belwood Bakery sandwich, parade around the school drenched in the color blue and ultimately graduate high school.

Everything is now my last. My last first day of high school, my last Color Wars, my last time getting hit with a middle schooler’s backpack and my last time putting on a uniform before I go to school. I often internally think to myself, “Where’d all the time go?”

I remember being a little sophomore and former Editor-in-Chief Anna Brodsky  said, “You will graduate before you know it.” Although I love Brodsky, I just couldn’t believe her. I felt like there were still millions of miles to go before I was a senior. I continued on with my sophomore year, and then, in March 2020, COVID-19 prompted Archer, and other schools alike, to start remote learning.

Although it has felt like a millennium since I have been back on-campus, at the same time, online learning really fast-tracked my high school experience. There were no more waves in the hallways, no more talking without unmuting and my connections with people who weren’t my immediate close friends deteriorated.

My junior year flew by so quickly, I barely even saw it.

But now, as I come back to campus in person, I feel like a medley between an itty-bitty sophomore and a burly senior.

When I walk through the halls knowing almost everyone on campus is younger than me, I can’t help but feel nostalgic. I remember my first locker in the middle school hallway and seeing seniors walk past me looking like scary adults who could quite literally stomp on me. I remember the first time I got on the bus frantically scanning rows to find a seat. I remember my first journalism class at Archer and feeling completely lost and out of place.

But now, I know that I am right where I need to be. To every freshman, sophomore and junior: savor the unique moments of your high school experience. Reach out to that person you haven’t connected to in a while. Go out of your way to meet someone new. Be vulnerable with one another.

And finally, you will be here before you know it.