School can be a NASCAR race. If you don't slow down, it's over before you know it

Whenever I think about how fast these years in high school have gone, I always come back to one thing that someone said to me in middle school.

They attributed those middle school years to going by like a NASCAR race.

I would venture to say that high school has gone faster.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up this feeling of time, but I know that the pandemic is not the sole reason.

These years have gone fast because most of us want to grow up and move on to better things.

By always looking forward to the next best thing and the next big event, we miss the little moments in our high school years. I am guilty of looking forward to college but I am also guilty of missing the small moments.

Like in freshman year, when I finally learned how to do a proper toss with my flag in color guard, or when I went to homecoming with my new friends for the first time since eighth grade.

Those small moments were overshadowed by a longing for more that I mistook for the most important part of my life.

A year feels like forever, but looking back feels like life went by in a blink of an eye.

If I had to go back and do it all again, I would be more appreciative of the time I had to be a kid without responsibilities like driving a car or getting a job. I would have spent less time wondering when it was going to be my turn to do something special and go out and do it.

This thought process feels like a process a senior would be having, but I feel like it’s occurring because I am slowly recognizing that this summer into the school year will be the last year to do it all.