“Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.” The time of the year has rapidly approached that I have to start applying to colleges and preparing for my future. As I think about what is to come, I can’t help but to look back at everything I will be leaving behind. Countless flashbacks flood my mind when I reflect on all of the monumental memories I have made at Xavier High School with people I will never forget. With that being said, I wanted to address the stereotype that once you get to college you have to wave goodbye to all of your high school classmates forever.

It is extremely unrealistic to think that you can never speak to some of the people you have seen nearly every day in class for over 13 years. Just because you are beginning a new chapter in your life, does not mean you have to shut the door on people who have been there and supported you throughout your school years.

I think people put too much emphasis on how they want to meet an entire new group of people and never look back. I find it comforting that if I attend a big school with some of my former classmates I won’t feel completely alone starting my freshman year. Being in a new city, and walking on a new campus is intimidating enough. Not knowing a single familiar face would make it even more stressful. Don’t get me wrong, it is equally important to expand your friend group and reach out to new people because that is a lot of what college is about!

Caution: I’m not encouraging you to room with your best friend from high school or to keep in constant communication with them every minute. Instead, I think it is necessary to make an effort to reach outside of your comfort zone and try something new. At the end of the day, you don’t want to be that person who forgot all of the people who helped shape them into the individual they are today. You are capable of finding a healthy balance between making time for your old friends and the new ones you will make in college. After all, friendships are a two-way street. If they are meant to last a lifetime, they will, regardless of how long you have known that person.

You wake up on a cool Tuesday morning with a runny nose, a sore throat, possibly a fever, and little to no motivation or energy to get out of bed. Ah yes, it’s that time of year again, and it was bound to happen at one point or another. Cold and flu season has arrived. With all the kids back for school it was inevitable.

There seems to be some sort of new “plague” every year, but over the course of my almost four years at Xavier, I have noticed an even stronger epidemic affecting the entire Xavier community. It can strike at any moment or time without you consciously knowing. Not even those with the strongest immune systems can avoid catching this outbreak, and no cure exists to fix the problem. Symptoms include phrases such as, “I’ll finish it later,” or “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and other times, “I’m too tired to do this right now.” You might have guessed it by now, the real problem is procrastination.

I don’t know a single person who has not fallen victim to procrastination and I am well aware that I struggle with it on a daily basis. School is exhausting, and if you are