Throughout history, the words, “high school goes so fast, before you know it, its over.” have been prevalent.

While this famous line may have not been around during the era of the Neanderthals, it is most definitely around during my time.

I first heard this line during the summer of eighth grade and going into freshman year. This was the same year covid hit, however, that is irrelevant. It was a year people will remember for that reason, but I will remember it for the words I was told by my cousin Matthew Comarata, a wise gentleman who is currently approaching his senior year at Northern Kentucky University.

I remember a hot summer day when I was landscaping with him. He asked if I was excited to start high school, to which I responded, yes.

His final remark was, “Enjoy your time there, it goes by fast.” His comment left me flabbergasted, I was unable to feel my fingers, my legs were filled with pins and needles, and a single tear trickled down my cheek. Scared of the inevitable, I knew that this would only be true if I let it.

I learned this to be true the hard way. I was sitting in fifth bell Journalism on August 16, 2024, in my senior year of high school, I looked back and realized that this conversation occurred almost four years ago.

This phrase, one that often gets ignored by incoming freshman, has led me to think that there must be an explanation for the reason things move so quickly. To my surprise, there is.

Professor Adrian Bejan of Harvard University published an argument based on the physics of neural signal processing, or in simpler words,  how the brain works. He argues that when we age, the size and complexity of the networks of neurons in our brains increases. In other words, our brain essentially has little roads, and as we get older, the roads get longer, therefore the travel distance increases and with that, time increases.

You may be thinking, if these signals are taking longer to travel in our brains, shouldn’t time slow down? But over time, these pathways/roads accumulate damage that resist the flow of electrical signals that slower processing time.

To understand this next part of information, we must understand that the brain works in frames per second, sort of like our phones, televisions, and computers. Slower processing times result in us perceiving fewer ‘frames per second’ and more actual time passes between the perception of each new mental image. Therefore, leading time to pass more rapidly.

Bejan puts it, “People are often amazed at how much they remember from days that seemed to last forever in their youth. It’s not that their experiences were much deeper or more meaningful, it’s just that they were being processed in rapid fire.”

Teens develop into the young people they are soon to be during high school. During this change our brains grow immensely, which results in a must faster perception of time. This is why people think their life was much more detailed up until sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, and in a way, that is true.

High school is undoubtedly one of the greatest times to be alive. It opens a new realm of life for teens, where they have more freedom, yet more responsibilities. Many people meet lifelong friends in high school. Others find interests that they were unaware they had.

I leave you with this. It is impossible to change time, but making memories and having fun with your friends is a good way to try and alter the way you perceive it.

Most of this information was taken from an argument published by Dr. Adrian Bejan, University of Harvard. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/no-not-just-time-speeds-get-older/ \