In the grand scheme of life, high school is a small blip, and it already feels as though my time at Mill Valley has flown by. I feel myself trying to hold on to all the memories that are passing by and hear myself saying many ‘lasts.’ Why would you want to rush the end and miss out on the last few moments? Going part time causes seniors to miss out on the most important parts of their high school career, often times, by, cutting their time at the school in half.

Being that high school is only made of eight semesters, cutting down one of them makes a significant difference. We hear our parents and teachers constantly telling us to remember these moments, because we may never get them back. By decreasing this last semester, seniors are missing out on these memories. Many of us will never hear the end-of-the-day bell signifying the close to another grind of a day; the satisfaction of walking out of the school after completing eight hours of work. While this may seem grueling right now, when looking back in 10 years we will miss these moments, and not everyone is able to say that.

Living in Johnson County and being able to go to such an excellent school is a luxury. We get to formulate relationships with teachers, take college classes and simply enjoy our time here. Some students at neighboring schools don’t always get the same opportunities. While the course load sometimes seems too much, the club meetings seem too often and the sleep seems too little, these are all opportunities that not every high schooler gets. We should relish our time at Mill Valley, not shorten it.

As we near the end of our time at Mill Valley, every moment should be remembered. This last semester of high school is the last time to truly make a name for yourself. Once in college, no one cares who the homecoming queen or the valedictorian is. The transition to adulthood starts the minute that we walk off that stage on Saturday, May 18, so why waste the little time that we have left to truly be teens?

Now, after saying all of this, some of our students need to go part time in order to finance their future education, and that is completely justified. That is the reason that part time was created, and it should stay that way in order to allow each senior to truly make the most of their time at Mill Valley. It should not be used simply as a reason to go home early or sleep in late.

To those students that are doing what they can to further their education, part time is the right path. For the rest of us that just want to get an extra hour or two of sleep, is it truly worth it in the long run to miss out on making these irreplaceable memories?