To say that you could possibly make a coming of age out movie of the Slocum high school experience is not an over exaggeration. The eras that me, Willow, Ruthie, and Carter lived through are the memories I will look back on the most. From endless attic movie nights, problematic haunted houses, countless pizza hut meetings, family dinners, murder mysteries, and many, many themed parties, these are the fundamental building blocks that allowed me to flourish into the well- rounded person I am today.

One thing, though, that is unique to my experience is that all of it is preserved digitally. Nostalgia, warm yet painful, reassuring but distant-feeling. The ability to relive moments over and over again has always given me a comfort. I am sentimental, tending to hold onto the past, intimidated by the various paths of the future. My phone camera has been out for a good portion of high school. Twenty thousand videos and photos take up the majority of my phone storage. Endless video collages and photo dumps dominate my social media. Several times a week I find myself reminiscing whether by scrolling through my phone or through my thoughts. 

The concept of documenting my life through my bright phone screen has always fascinated me. After having numerous conversations with grandparents and even parents, they tend to not be able to recount some of their fondest memories of their adolescence. Maybe it’s a good thing, not being able to see all stages of your life including the cringey and sometimes regretful phases. For me, though, being able to keep my life story from fading through video, something my parents couldn’t do, is very special to me. 

My next step potentially is to create a short film time capsule to close this chapter of my life. On those late lonely nights that are bound to happen I want to be able to pull up a YouTube video that summarizes my high school experience for closure because it truly was so much fun!