If you had to choose a phrase, a few mere words, to sum up your childhood, a crucial period of your growing experience, and mark your transition into your next chapter of your story…what would it be?

St. Philip’s current eighth grade, graduating class of 2014, has been asking their hearts this question probably since they were old enough to read the yearbook captions (I know I did). But only recently has the answer become something real, something concrete, that they need to have in their heads, their hands, soon, as the day of caps and gowns approaches.

Some background on the quotes: a long-standing tradition, eighth graders of St. Philip have chosen quotes, usually advice to younger falcons, or a few words of wisdom from one of their idols. Effectively their last words to the St. Philip school community, each student’s quote is printed below his or her red gown-clad self featured in yearbook pictures.

As an eighth grader who is preparing to graduate, I thought it more than fitting that an article be written about this fairly emotional time, during which my fellow classmates and I have essentially three months to bid adieu to our second home, to burst from our cocoon and fly off into the real world.

During the practice of St. Philip’s Senior Decathlon Team, the members of which all but one are eighth graders, last Friday, I asked some of my teams members what their thoughts were about the quotes.

I approached student council member Ellie Parisi first, inquiring about her ideas about the quotes. Ellie tilted her head back contemplatively. “Well, it’s hard to find quotes. But when you do, it’s hard to choose just one.” Ellie has a good point. Narrowing down all your thoughts and feelings down into what’s basically one sentence is difficult. Ellie also shed light on another aspect of the quotes: finding them. Some students may be unsure what sort of message they wish to convey through their quote, which definitely would make choosing one hard.

Another decathlon member had an entirely different, though still very unique, approach to the quotes. “I’m gonna say: ‘I forgot my pants!’” This student, who most likely wanted to add a humorous touch to his quote, obviously values laughter very highly, and probably wants to be remembered as a funny and light-hearted sort of person. This student also suggested another approach to the quotes: talking about an experience.

Paul Hawkins, a seventh grader, and the Senior Decathlon Team’s youngest member, offered a different perspective as a younger student looking forward to choosing his quote. Paul stared dramatically and suspensefully into the distance before saying with a shrug, “I don’t know… I haven’t really started thinking about it.” Paul’s answer hints that I was perhaps the only one to think about my future yearbook quote before the fact, but gave insight into the minds of St. Philip’s second oldest class. Paul, possibly the kind of person who lives in the moment, might want his quote to reflect his state of mind while choosing it, a position most probably shared by a few of his classmates, as well as a few of mine.

Will Dalgarn, volleyball player, commented on the nature of the idea of choosing a quote in the first place. “Well, I think they’re cool. I also feel that the quotes let you express feelings you couldn’t ordinarily say in front of people.” Will has a point: the quotes enable students to share  their thoughts  with the majority of the student body through the immortal written word.

 Antonio Estrada, chess club member, looked at the quotes on a deeper level. “The quotes inspire people.” They really do. I remember flipping through the pages of yearbooks past and smiling at the words of past eighth graders, who I looked up to immensely. The quotes to have the potential to influence younger students.

Grace Gustilo, drama club member, put her opinion about the quotes quite eloquently: “I think they’re an interesting way for the eighth graders to leave an impression on the school.” I think we can all agree with Grace. We may decorate tiles to adorn the sides of our school building; we may put up posters on the walls inside. But our school’s spirit, that’s what we decorate with the quotes, and it’s the most beautiful of all.

Gathering the opinions of my fellow students was an enlightening experience. From it I realized that everyone views the decades-old tradition through different eyes. Everyone will write their next chapters with different colored pens. One thing is certain though: all our chapters will have in them the common experiences we’ve taken from St. Philip. We all developed here, grown into the young adults we are today. We’ll leave St. Philip with an abundance of memories. And in exchange we’ll leave behind a quote, a few words, to define our experiences, inspire the students who’ll follow in our footsteps and lift us into tomorrow.