In just a few days, the Air Academy Class of 2017 will graduate from the crazy, fun, confusing, energy draining, eventful place we call high school. It’s crazy how in just a couple days the seniors who called Air Academy their home for four years will suddenly  be done. As a sophomore, I still have two more years of high school, but this year’s graduation got me thinking: about the friends that I will miss, the exciting places that the seniors will head off to next, and the changes that will occur at Air Academy next year when the class of 2017 will be replaced by a new freshman class. But most of all, I’ve thought about time and how I feel like I’m running out of time. Next year, I will be a junior and my brother will be a senior; time has flown by! It’s weird to think that just yesterday we were toddlers cutting each other’s hair and tomorrow we will be leaving our families behind and heading off to college. The time will definitely go by fast, but luckily, I still have time left in high school and I can stop and cherish it. But how? How can I make sure that I am making the most of my high school career and my last years at home with my family?

I used to think that in order to make memories, I had to do something big or have a life changing moment, but really I don’t. Funny enough, I didn’t realize this until reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants about a year ago. As said by Ann Brashares, “Maybe happiness [in life] didn’t have to be about the big, sweeping circumstances, about having everything in your life in place. Maybe it was about stringing together a bunch of small pleasures. Wearing slippers and watching the Miss Universe contest. Eating a brownie with vanilla ice cream. Getting to level seven in Dragon Master and knowing there were twenty more levels to go.” Although some of the book is cliche, this quote rings true in many of our lives. Life isn’t about the huge moments, but instead about the little moments, sometimes we just have to stop and realize it. I’ve realized that that’s what I have to do with the remainder of my time with my older brother and with my family.

I’ll cherish our family dinners every night talking and laughing about whatever’s on our minds. I’ll cherish our weekends in Breckenridge, my brothers pushing me to try new tricks, and skiing until we can’t feel our legs anymore. I’ll cherish binge watching Gilmore Girls with my mom late at night. I’ll cherish the numerous lacrosse games and sports events where I could look into the stands and see my family cheering for me or where I could be the one cheering for them in the stands. I’ll cherish Monday nights hosting FCA, staying up late no matter how much homework we were procrastinating. I’ll cherish going on missions trips with my brother and all of our friends.

The class of 2017 will be missed, they have been great friends and taught us many things, but most importantly, they have taught me to cherish the time I still have left at Air Academy.