This year during Torch, I was given the task of organizing every past issue in chronological order. While I was swimming in piles of papers with ink-stained hands, something caught my eye. A senior issue from the ‘80s.

At first, I was shocked by how different everything looked: the fuzziness of the photos, the frizziness of the hair and the frilliness of the outfits. Everything seemed so dated. It was a world only my parents knew, full of “freaks” and “sportos” that I thought only existed in old movies like “The Breakfast Club.” But as I flipped through the pages, I realized that even though at first glance things looked different, not that much about high school has changed. 

There were still columns complaining about parking, sports stories on historic championship wins and ads for local restaurants just starting up. For every moment, topic or tradition that I felt had defined my high school career, there was an identical one perfectly catalogued and detailed in the same exact ten point font I’m writing in today.

Right now, it may seem like we will all be young forever and that we are special pieces of history that will continue to stick out even twenty years in the future. But soon enough, you will forget your student ID number and your math partner’s name, and your high school experience will blur into a mix of memories and cliches. Although the high school traditions may stay the same even after decades and decades, we will continue changing and growing. 

I know right now I do not feel quite ready to leave the life I know behind. In just a few days I will have outgrown Glenbrook North, and like the rest of the class of 2026 and every class since GBN’s opening, my high school self will become a face that only exists in the cabinets of the Torch room.