By Justine Seo ’19, Feature Editor

“Graduation Goggles” is a term coined in the 20th episode of the 6th season of the show How I Met Your Mother. It refers to the special nostalgia that seems to invariably gloss over all your memories of a place as soon as you realize you have to leave, often occurring when people are on the brink of graduation.

You start to see your life at an institution, job, home or any other setting through a soft sepia filter of happiness. Which isn’t to say that you didn’t have great times at whatever place it is you’re leaving, but mostly that you start to miss things you didn’t even notice were there before. Suddenly the prank the middle school boys pull where they twist the Art Department water fountain so that it squirts on people isn’t annoying, it’s ingenious. You get weirdly sad when you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the first time in your four years at the school because it tastes great and suddenly you’re scared you’re missing out on a thousand other things you never bothered to try while you were there.

Although I’ve come to the conclusion that all good things must come to an end, as I’m sure many before me have as well, I’ve also enjoyed the time I’ve spent in my graduation goggles, observing my last moments at the school. I talked to a couple of my senior friends to see how they felt about graduating as well.

My friend Melisa Yaman ‘19 expressed her excitement about leaving the school, but she also lamented the spaces of the school that shaped her time here. The art room, in particular, was one that she noted, a place that I will also miss very dearly. We’ve had some of the best times there with our favorite conversationalist, Mr. Torson, and its position next to the four square court makes it a perfect place to relive your younger years. When I think about the special place this room held in my heart for the entirety of my career at this school, it makes me wonder what other hideaways there are in the school that I’ve never discovered before.

One observation made by my friend Alan Lin ‘19, was the looming label  “the last”. As he sat down to his final Chameleon jazz concert, he was struck with the fact that this would be the last Chameleon jazz concert he would ever play in. Similarly, there are a million other “lasts” that have been buzzing around in my head. Maybe I’ve already had my last pizza by the slice day.  Or maybe my last shushing in the library. You know the Graduation Goggles have kicked in when you suddenly get the urge to burst into the library and yell, if only to have the solace that you can be reprimanded by Mr. Mallalieu one last time.

As I sit and write this, my last Minuteman article, I’m reminded of the million and one things I’ve felt while I’ve been at this school. Apprehension about trying to make new friends, days when I felt bulldozed and cemented over, tests with questions that still haunt me to this day. But most of all, I remember all the happy memories I’ve had, my buddies who I love so much, the people who have helped me out, and all the million ways I’ve changed since I’ve been here. Although I’m in no doubt of the fact that the Graduation Goggles are there on my head, strapped tight and making me feel closer than ever to these red brick walls, I am also sure that I have had experiences at this school that only validate all the happy feelings.