Gilroy
– Inside its cream covers lie words that will endure a
lifetime.
Gilroy High School students gathered at picnic benches and in
clusters on the pavement trading yearbooks for signing during Day
on the Green. The two-hour celebration serves as an opportunity for
students to exchange goodbyes, and in some cases, hellos.
Gilroy – Inside its cream covers lie words that will endure a lifetime.
Gilroy High School students gathered at picnic benches and in clusters on the pavement trading yearbooks for signing during Day on the Green. The two-hour celebration serves as an opportunity for students to exchange goodbyes, and in some cases, hellos.
“It makes you realize that the end is closing in and that we’re not going to see people (after we graduate),” said senior Daniel Fortino, who was busy scrawling his thoughts onto the pages of his friends’ yearbooks.
On a music-filled afternoon, students sat baking in the sun writing vignettes of their experiences including ‘remember–whens’ and ‘I–wish–we–hads.’
“I write positive things that (people will) read and that will make them smile,” said sophomore Alexis Dalke. “I try not say, ‘Don’t change,’ or ‘I’ll see you over the summer,’ because everyone writes that.”
Yearbooks, which cost $70, are a chance for students’ voices to be heard – in the privacy of two closed covers.
“They’re like the last time you have the opportunity to say something,” Dalke said. “It’s the easiest way to get your point across.”
Many of the members of Dalke’s cheer squad are seniors.
“It’s sad,” she said of their graduation. “But when you want to remember people you just go and look at your yearbook.”
Students sat in clusters on the campus: Juniors and seniors in one area, freshman and sophomores in another.
Some wrote their words sideways, at angles, upside down or in cursive, using all capitals, or in large and small print – using colors as varied as their personalities. But the messages were similar.
“I’m so glad I got to know you,” some wrote.
“It’s been such a great year. It flew by,” said others.
“I’ll miss you,” was everywhere.
Students wrote of memories they didn’t want to forget, that will be preserved in pages they’ll find when cleaning their rooms years later – when they’re different individuals entirely.
Pictures of sporting events past are captured forever, long after the cheers subsided. Pep rallies, junior and senior proms come to life on the pages.
“I look at them all the time,” said Fortino, who has purchased a yearbook every year since he was a freshman. “I like reflecting on all the past years – seeing how people have changed. I like to think I’ve matured – made some close friends.”
Students steadied books on their laps, pens furiously at work – the importance of remembering.
Richard Tover purchased his first yearbook last year as a junior.
“I didn’t want to forget anyone,” he said.
Tover estimated he would sign at least 100 books Friday.
However, according to Tover, the relationship alters the messages one writes.
“If we’re close, then I’ll write really personal stuff. But in others – just jokes,” he said.
Regardless of what is written, many students adhere to a particular method: Sign now, read later.
“I always let everyone sign it first, then I go home and read it,” senior Meghan Sinorotti said.
Yearbooks are occasionally used as a forum for crushes to come clean. And during quiet moments at home when students are leafing through pages – they are revealed.
At least that has been the case for Sinorotti in the past. She received a note from a boy who wanted to take her out over the summer.
“It was sweet,” she admitted.
And while she appreciated receiving the message, she couldn’t bring herself to actually write an admission herself.
“I don’t have the guts,” she laughed.
But for most students, yearbooks are simply a way of remembering their high school years.
“I like reflecting on past memories,” Fortino said as he wrote to a younger female friend: “You are an awesome girl – You have a fun few years in front of you.”
