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Nora Coffey ’25 and Eva Coffey ’27 jump for joy on Nora’s first day of kindergarten on Aug. 22, 2012. Photo courtesy of Eva Coffey. 

Growing up offers people many different freedoms: the ability to drive, buy a lottery ticket and vote. But growing up also comes with a lot of different emotions, particularly feelings of nostalgia. This is because the more people grow up, the more they start to miss the aspects of their life they leave behind in the process. Time really does fly, and people often forget to appreciate the current moment until it is too late. 

 Nostalgia is defined as sentimental longing for the past. Nostalgia is usually first felt when people are in high school, for it is the first major lifestyle shift that people in today’s society undergo. In order to examine nostalgia and how this emotion evolves over high school, The Network has compiled interviews with girls from each grade.

Freshman Ariana Render said she has not felt nostalgic very often since entering high school. “I don’t feel nostalgic very often because I am enjoying making new memories at Marian,” Render said. 

Render said the type of media that makes her the most nostalgic is Snapchat, in particular the user gallery of memories (pictures). She said she finds herself feeling the most nostalgic when she is hanging out with the people she grew up with. 

Render’s advice for younger kids who are experiencing nostalgic times is to take in every moment. “Try to remember all the memories, while still making new ones,” Render said. 

Sophomore Eva Coffey said she has felt nostalgic a lot during her time in high school. “I have felt nostalgic thinking about how short of a time we really have at Marian,” Coffey said. 

 Coffey said the type of media that makes her the most nostalgic is music because it reminds her of certain periods in her life. “Some songs have very strong emotional ties for me,” Coffey said. She said she feels the most nostalgic when driving by her childhood home. 

Coffey said she feels nostalgic about her and her sister’s relationship because her sister is graduating this year. “I often feel sad about her moving and reflect on all the experiences we’ve lived through together,” Coffey said. 

Coffey said she views nostalgia as a positive emotion because it allows you to reflect in a happy way. The advice that Coffey would give to younger kids who are experiencing nostalgic times is to live in the moment and not have any regrets. 

Junior Sophia Shillcutt said she did not feel any nostalgia during her freshman and sophomore years, but she has started to feel nostalgic more this year. “I think I have been feeling more nostalgic because I know I am getting older and senior year is coming up, so I have been looking back on my past a lot more,” Shillcutt said. 

The type of media that Shillcutt said makes her the most nostalgic is music. “Certain songs and certain lyrics make me nostalgic because they remind me of my childhood and positive memories,” Shillcutt said. Shillcutt said she feels the most nostalgic when she is by herself and has time to reflect. 

Shillcutt said she feels nostalgic for her childhood because she was more carefree and was less stressed when she was young. 

Shillcutt said she views nostalgia as both a positive and negative feeling. “Nostalgia can make me really sad, but it also reminds me that I’m growing up and gaining more freedom,” Shillcutt said. Shillcutt’s advice for younger kids is to enjoy the moment and not stress about the future. “Don’t always focus on getting older, because once you are older, you’ll miss being younger,” Shillcutt said.

Senior Harper Hogan said she has felt nostalgic frequently throughout high school. Hogan said she felt the most nostalgic during her sophomore and junior years because she was still trying to grasp the idea that she was getting older, while now, during her senior year, she isn’t as nostalgic; she just wishes time would slow down. 

The type of media that makes Hogan the most nostalgic is TikTok because of all the trends and content about growing up that exists on the app. Hogan said she feels the most nostalgic late at night when she sees TikTok content about growing up. 

Hogan said she feels nostalgic for her childhood because she misses the times when all of her siblings still lived at home together, before her brother went to college. 

Hogan’s advice for younger kids is to try not to grow up too fast. “You are only a kid once, so don’t take it for granted. That may be cliche advice, but it is very true,” Hogan said.