High school is incredibly cliché. It is the dances, and the football games, and the spirit weeks. It is the jocks, and the cheerleaders, and the nerds, and the artists. But what is it really? Can it not be simply described as the last part of our secondary education? Probably not. High school is more than the cliché elements of it, though. To those that do not consider themselves as one of the select few to have an “amazing high school experience”, it is quite a struggle to find those memories worth remembering.

Rather than remember high school by moments and events, the people that made a lasting effect on you should be considered. You remember the person that you survived the hardest English class with. You remember the person that was there in the shadows, coming out at the perfect time to remind you just how important you are. It is the person you stood in the rain with watching your team lose yet another football game. It is the person that you once considered your best friend, which is now a stranger. It is the teacher that challenged you to prove to them just how strong you were. You remember the traffic guard that waved to you every day. You may have known everything or nothing about these particular people, but someway—somehow—these people made some kind of impact on you.

As you watch these people that changed you and taught you things you could never learn yourself, say goodbye to the place they have spent the last four years, you cannot overcome the melancholy feelings that overwhelm you. You love these people and some you may never see again. They are moving on to their next chapter while you remain to finish yours. Although they are leaving, the lessons they have taught you and the memories you have made with them remain. They are there to remind you that not all of high school was awful. It is the people that make high school memorable, not the events. Twenty years from now the score, the theme, the class isn’t going to matter—the people you spent those moments will.