By JACOB FOREHAND / Guest Columnist

“Now here comes Pelham High School’s Class of 2008.” I have heard the phrase but have never taken it seriously until this year when I became a senior. I never thought about the implications of actually being a senior until recently: I have to graduate and move on with my life.

This is a scary idea for me and many other seniors. But if seniors begin to talk about leaving very quickly, we begin to push away the thought of leaving and replace it with small talk about memorable things that happened during our school days together.

This led me to start thinking about my favorite memories of school. The more I thought, the more memories I came up with.

That’s when it struck me how important these memories will actually be later on in my life. These memories will be my only connection to my “best years.” The football games, concerts and just hanging out are regular events right now but will be priceless memories later.

When years pass by and I become an adult, I will not think about high school as a learning experience, I will think about how much fun I had. Students should not dwell on the downside of high school, but think about the positive things they are doing, and it will make their overall experience that much better. Think about the good things that are happening and each passing minute will be great.

Essentially the point I bring up is this: I am still scared to move on and I always will be, but knowing that I will not forget about high school comforts me. Happy memories of a person’s past are truly priceless. So regardless of your age group, instead of just entirely fearing change, take that fear and combine it with your happy memories, and you will know deep down that more memories can only come out of change.

Now next time I hear, “Now here comes Pelham High School’s Class of 2008,” I will be at graduation, but I will know that I took advantage of every moment this year and face my future without regret or fear.

Jacob Forehand is a 12th-grade student at Pelham High School