As a recent alumna of North Penn, I still remember my last few years as a high school student. However, as a freshman at Bloomsburg University, I can now look back on my time at North Penn with the wisdom of the ages – or at least the past six months of life experiences.

Being a typical self-absorbed teenager, I used to think that North Penn revolved around me, that teachers should alter their methods to suit my style, that school should fit into my life. I believed that North Penn was just a chapter in my journey to the rest of my life.

But in reality, we’re all just a small chapter in its life. It’s had a long history before us and will probably be around to educate our children and grandchildren, as I’m sure some of those teachers will be too…

So appreciate your time here. Whether you’re a sophomore still trying to find your way or a second-semester senior just waiting for that highly anticipated June afternoon, enjoy the time you still have in high school.

We all used to count the hours, minutes, and seconds until our names were called and we were handed our diploma. And now, I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

So stop wishing for time to speed up and live in the moment. Go to sporting events. See the play. Listen to your teachers – they’re smarter than you know. Get involved. Don’t procrastinate – seriously, that one will really screw you over in college. It sounds terribly cliché but that advice is the most genuine piece of knowledge I can share with you.

Twenty years from now, your teachers won’t remember you ever stepped foot in their classroom but those three years at North Penn will stick with you forever. The grades you got, the sports you played, the musicals you were a part of – they won’t remember you but you’ll remember them. And isn’t that what counts? Because within the circle of life, everyone and everything will eventually become obsolete, no matter who you are. But it’s the memories we take with us that keep us warm at night. Or in my case, my 12-by-16 dorm room.