As senior year draws to a close for the class of 2016, the hardest challenge of the students’ high school careers still lies ahead. It is not the final AP tests or the senior writing project, but something much more difficult. Many have tried, and failed, to leave a legacy on Mt. Hebron, and the most lasting manner of doing so is through the senior quote.

For many weeks now, people have been staying up at night thinking about their parting words to the school. The submission date for senior quotations has come and gone, yet seniors still find the need to look back at great quotes from the past to think about what could have been.

There are two schools of thought on the correct nature of the senior quote: to be funny or to be inspiring.

Oftentimes the funniest quotes are scenes from a person’s past taken out of context, like 2012 alumnus Shreyas Shashikant Patel’s memory of random life lessons from Mt. Hebron teachers. The mind is left to run wild with beautiful fantasies of the conversation that led to Mr. Sankey saying, “How would you know? You’re not from the hood.” It’s words like those that make us sure we really never know what we are going get.

Some attempt to mix genres by acting like their quote gives solid advice to would-be seniors of the future when, in fact, it offers very little in the way of substance. To see a perfect example of this mastery of the plot twist, we must look no further into our past than the class of 2015: “Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty things.”  We marvel at these words of wisdom from Katherine Kruse.

Sometimes the best legacy is simply the truth. As his last words to Mt. Hebron, 2012 alumnus Lawrence Nathan Giron simply explained why he acted the way he did. “Sleep deprivation: the cause of my high school personality.” Thanks to this quote, all those Giron left behind could sleep easy knowing why he did what he did for those four long years.

Truth does not have to be a confession about oneself. “Live fast, Skate faster.” For those who did not know, this is the simple truth that makes life worth living, and we have 2008 alumnus Donald John Rodis III to thank for bestowing this knowledge upon us mere high schoolers.

All of these great authors have shown that if given proper inspiration, truly breathtaking works of literature can be created. However, not everyone is visited by a muse when filling out their senior bio page. Class of 2015 alumus Justin Cho was one of these unfortunate individuals who was still able to say, “Abdjefq rtlmn bsvw xpjm dlir ascoy zvsr wyvb tmks.” These are truly words that make any who read them feel the need to do some serious soul searching.

So do not worry about if your quote will be remembered to the end of days. No matter what, you will be in great company. Remember, as 2013 alumnus Christopher Richardson said, “He who laughs last thinks the slowest.”