Mansi, Week 16: The End
A memory is only a memory when the moment the memory captures has ended.
May 31 encroaches closer and closer by the day. Which seems highly impossible, because it was just yesterday I was taking in the sights of the unfamiliar classroom in Portable E, the millions of rhetorical analysis essays I would accomplish and hundred books I would read unbeknownst to me at the time. Everything happened so quickly—this year, high school, and frankly life in general. It’s too soon for it all to become just a memory.
So, is this it? The end of yet another year I'll constantly look back on longingly, desperately wishing I could go back? The end of junior year?
The truth, that I’ve been avoiding, is that nothing really lasts forever. Even memories, which supposedly promise us an everlasting keepsake of the moment, will still fail us one day or another—we forget. The ever-expanding universe, a symbol of infinity, will still one day collapse on itself, will one day end. Does it mean there’s no value in anything if anything and everything will end?
It does not. Rather, things become valuable because we know that they will end. We value our memories, so we lock them up in cameras and photos. We value the people around us, because someday, they might leave. We value the gift of a tomorrow, because it’s never a guarantee. We value the end itself, because while there is an end to every beginning, to every end, there is also a new beginning. As junior year ends, the coveted senior year will begin, as high school ends, a new chapter of college begins, and life, ultimately, continues on.
Hi Mansi! I loved your blog as it explains the complex feelings I have been having about this year's ending. As May 31 comes closer, it feels like a big chapter in my life is over, and senior year is marking the end of my high school experience. As you mentioned, “everything happened so quickly” this year. I am not sure if that was cause it was so stressful that I just kept pushing without realizing how fast everything had been going by or if it was because good things go by faster. Either way, I completely relate to the feeling of sitting in a classroom and feeling like you just walked in a week ago wondering how the class would be. It feels so foreign yet so familiar.
ReplyDeleteThroughout your blog, you included some great strategies that made it even more interesting to read. Firstly, your style of writing is extremely poetic and vivid which made it easier for me to relate to your feelings. Your use of rhetorical questions made it feel more like a conversation since the audience is invited into to also provide commentary on the topic. Lastly, your use of em-dashes to separate your commentary made the writing more diverse and made it more interesting to look at instead of just having a paragraph block of text. Overall, you did an excellent job capturing the essence of memories and time through your blog.
Hi Mansi, I truly related to your blog. As we are approaching the end of this notorious junior year, it is certainly "the end of yet another year" we will "constantly look back on longingly," as I know I do with my sophomore and freshman years. Your inclusion of the statement "a memory is only a memory when the moment the memory captures has ended" in the very beginning of this blog immediately captured my attention, and also led me to realize every moment we live in is a memory. This entire year in fact has become exactly that—a memory. A memory that we all will forever look back on, from writing this very blog comment to reminiscing on every part that is worth reminiscing on.
ReplyDeleteOverall, your writing was very detailed and had a bittersweet tone to it, something that I could resonate with through my own emotions about this year ending. As we move on with our lives, with college applications, senior year, and into this "new chapter," I will be sure to keep the memory of the blogs that have stuck with me the most, yours included. Thank you for your blog!
Hi Mansi! Your blog perfectly encapsulates the uncomfortable mush of feelings I've been feeling for the last week. On one hand, I am so so eager to not have to go through junior year again, but on the other hand, I am also kind of upset about this school year ending. May 31st marks the beginning of all my "when I'm a senior..." plans, and to be honest, I'm pretty scared of all those plans. I'm scared of writing college apps. I'm VERY scared of decisions. I'm scared of leaving so much that I've known for my entire life behind in little over a year.
ReplyDeleteJust today, it felt so strange for us to be at the end of APENG, knowing that the work that got passed back today might just be our last bundle. I really don't know how to feel about it sometimes. I just hope that all our dreams come true!