It’s that time of year again. Jolly holiday songs start to blast on the radio, and neighbors immediately whip out their Christmas gear the second their Halloween candy runs out. People frantically scramble around to figure out what present to get their loved ones and students pray for snow while parents dread the icy driveways. Our seniors have their whole future to anticipate, and freshmen have settled into their new home, middle school feeling ages away. 

At the same time, it feels like just yesterday when the whole nation was awaiting the ball drop for 2024. It feels like just yesterday when people online projected 2024 to be another horrible year. It feels like just yesterday when New Year’s resolutions were made, only to meet their demise in the following weeks. Yet, we sit here at last, looking back and wishing that those finite moments would never end. With every year flying past, my confidence in my own perception of time dissipates. The year of 2025 once felt incredibly futuristic, but ever since quarantine, time seems to go by ten times faster, leaving me behind with the burden of letting myself surrender the past. Can we allow ourselves to look back on this year with satisfaction? With happiness and nostalgia? So many events have influenced each and every one of us as a community, from the total solar eclipse in April to the Summer Olympics, and now the presidential election. No matter our thoughts on everything that has happened, no matter the outcome, they are all moving us forward. This time of year is the time to be reflective, to be merry, to be excited— all without forgetting. 

As the world keeps spinning, you cozy up under a blanket to watch The Polar Express for the hundredth time with a mug of hot chocolate. The heat warms up your hands as frost gathers outside on the grass and barren trees. Crackling fire and hushed holiday rhythms play in the background, capturing the essence of an inviting mood. The neighborhood is speckled with festive lights as society unites for one last time to grasp onto every hope, every memory, and all the simpler things. Why, it’s that time of year again.