I hear it echoing through the senior locker area, before school, at lunch, in class and during passing periods. It is the phrase “I can’t wait to leave this place.” Every day I hear seniors say they’re excited to graduate and “never come back.” I completely understand where everyone is coming from. We’ve been in high school for almost four years and we’re ready to leave. At this time of the year, where 99.9% of the senior class has a severe case of senioritis (incurable by even the best doctors), there seems to be no hope left.

While I too am guilty of reciting these phrases, I can’t help but think how repetitive this cycle is. When we were in fifth grade, we couldn’t “wait to leave” the sanctuary of elementary school. When eighth grade graduation came around, we couldn’t “wait to leave” the terrors of middle school. And now, we are all so desperate to leave high school. Will this cycle continue in college? In another four years, will I be eager to leave college and start my job? And maybe 10 years after I start working, will I be sick of my job and ready for retirement?

As 18-year-olds, we are all so incredibly driven, ready to start our lives, and equipped to take on the world. These last few weeks of high school are an exhilarating time for all of us. Everybody is figuring out where he or she will be next year and what he or she will be doing. The last thing anybody wants to think about is writing another practice AP English essay or taking a multiple-choice test.

However, these last few days are rushing by and pretty soon, we’ll be done and we can finally “leave this place.” While we still have a few weeks left, let’s take a second to appreciate where we are now, rather than simply ignoring the present to only focus on the future. I am a strong advocate for planning ahead and believe it is an absolute necessity for success, but that becomes a problem when you completely disregard the moment.

Who knows – maybe in twenty, thirty, or even forty years, we may look back at our time in high school and become nostalgic for the days when we were able to see our childhood best friends every day, the days where we had guidance from the most caring teachers, and they days when life was far easier. Rather than always wanting change, appreciate the now because years down the road, you may not be able to easily “leave.”