As a military child, life is constantly changing. However, buying a yearbook is one way to capture all your memories as you go through schools. Yearbooks share special memories with us that social media can’t encapsulate. With creative themes and vivid descriptions, you can relive your school experiences. They also provide a way to remember people. In addition, there are countless hours put into the yearbook and so much behind-the-scenes work that you don’t know about.
As a yearbook staffer (with maybe some bias), I always buy a yearbook, especially as a military kid. With moving so much, you meet a lot of people, and it’s hard to keep track of everyone. However, you can just pull out yearbooks and look back at everyone and all the memories. The book represents a tangible connection with your past and community. They document a personal timeline for yourself and the school. And from academic achievements to school sports, yearbooks record valuable insight into the history of the school.
Recently I had an experience with a fellow military teen who attends my high school in northern Virginia. We played high school soccer together. We shared many interests and lots of laughs on the field, ultimately becoming really close. One day she messaged me and sent a picture of my first-grade yearbook picture from Ramstein Elementary School on Ramstein AB in Germany! We were both so shocked and excited that we had a shared experience, a connection to the past. All of our friends were equally surprised and thought the experience was insane.
We then realized we had even more connections with people. We talked about where we lived and our memories from our elementary school. We were able to reconnect just from our first-grade yearbooks. Yearbooks serve as a vital tool for rekindling school relationships. They provide a sense of belonging and nostalgia to military kids as they continue to move throughout their lives.
As a yearbook staffer, I can promise you there is so much work students and staff members put into yearbooks, from coming up with themes to designing each page. It takes a lot of effort, including re-reading every page before submission and making sure every single person was covered. Plus, there are harsh deadlines in place to ensure the yearbook arrives before the end of the school year. As a staffer, the best thing to see is people taking the time to read every page; seeing people signing the book you spent most of the year working on makes you feel appreciated. The money that is collected from yearbook sales is put towards the financial program behind the book. Buying the yearbook is just one way of supporting the program and the staffers.
Yearbooks are more than ink on paper. They represent all the memories and photographs of the year. They are a statement of dedication and creativity. They are cherished keepsakes that remind people, especially military kids, of their history, past friendships, and unique experiences. It is a document of stability and community. A yearbook is more than a snapshot of a school year for military kids, it can be the key to unlocking friendships and connections that we sometimes miss out on. So: buy the yearbook and support the students who dedicated their time to ensure your memories of friendships are not forgotten.