Imagine twenty years from now, the excruciating monotony of adult life drives you to a feeling of dissatisfaction. Folders of random links and expired codes discourage you from happily flipping through the pages of nostalgia. If only something could remind you of a better time, a time when you were more hopeful, to get you out of your spiraling slump. You look over to your dusty shelf full of old mementos and a hardcover plastered with familiar faces catches your eye. I forgot I bought that old thing. Whilst flipping through the old hallways of your highschool experiences, you feel a sense of relief as you remember a time of hope and excitement. 

I enjoy scouring through my old yearbooks and even printed photographs, and I feel many people take the experience a yearbook provides for granted. Even though I have memorized every inch of my yearbooks, flipping through the pages is as close as I can get to reliving those memories- and it will be something that I will be grateful for having purchased from Palatine High School. 

On social media sites, new comments, or new versions can reinforce the idea of the impermanence of memories. With something tangible, you know it was there the time the memory was made, and it remains unchanged till that rainy day when you feel like taking a trip down memory lane.

“I love the idea of sealing memories inside of book because…it just feels more sentimental,” junior editor in chief, Yilin Li said. “And it’s so nostalgic just looking back at my old self…I want to put that out into the world for other people.”

A yearbook is a time capsule you can touch and it’s not locked in a black mirror. Only a yearbook can give you the truest perception of what your highschool was like when you attended it. The inside jokes, references to defining moments of the year, and the “embarrassing” portraits are what make it the most authentic time machine you can afford.

Senior editor in chief, Hannah Henrikson, prides herself on calling the yearbook a history yearbook. 

“Cultures have changed and populations have changed,” head yearbook advisor Allen Paul said. “Still, the basic idea of a teenager who wants to grow up and become something of themselves has always been here. So it’s really fascinating to watch​​ over the last 31 years.”

Highschool is made up of those thousands of small fragments of time. The strategizing with your classmates to get your teacher off task, catching up quickly with your friends in the hallways before class, and even asking the most obvious questions in an effort to impress your teacher is what is truly the highschool experience.

“These moments are not gonna come back, they’re going to be in your memory,” yearbook photographer Suryanshu Bahadur said. “Some are gonna be forgotten. Which could be refreshed and recalled through…all the good photos and good memories.” 

You’re going to want to remember the person you couldn’t stop thinking about or the one you had a childish feud with. It’s those seemingly mundane everyday moments that made you who you are, and are worth a space on your momentos shelf.

Meeting every single day after school, the yearbook staff has been hard at work to provide you with all your nostalgic needs.

“It’s custom[the cover], drawn by the people in yearbook,” said Li. “Also, buying the yearbook supports their hard work.”

Twenty years from now, reading an inside joke your best friend wrote might just bring you out of that mid-life crisis. Even if high school wasn’t the best time for you, seeing that you made it out might inspire you once more. Buying a yearbook is the best way to invest in your future happiness by acknowledging your past self. 

Pre-ordering is essential to ensure that there are enough yearbooks for everyone that would like one. Pre-order at Jostens.com, where you can also add customizable attachments to your timeless yearbook. Contact Allen Paul in English with any questions.