As the editor of the features section for the 2015-2016 school year I would like to formally introduce myself. I am Christina Brennan; I am a senior, an artist, and a writer. This will be my first year on newspaper staff, but my third year as a Russellog journalist. I like to consider myself as a fairly easygoing and spontaneous person. You, as a reader, will be able to see my personality throughout my pieces of writing.

With school starting again I hear many complaints from my peers about how they are not ready to go back. Even I wake up  in the mornings a little less motivated knowing that I will be sitting in a desk for eight hours a day five days a week.

It’s hard to jump back into the flow of school, trust me, this will be my 12^th year and I know how much it sucks when you realize the last day of summer is slowly creeping up. But if there is one thing I’ve learned after all these years, it is how to start a school year the right way. No matter how the previous year ended I cannot let that affect how the new year will turn out. We, as a student body, cannot let our past school years determine how the 2015 – 2016 school year will be.

If we all start the first day of school with sour attitudes and our heads stuck in the past it won’t be a great year. We need to make the best of what this year has to offer, and to do that we should all walk into school daily thinking, “This will be the best year of high school.”

We should be living in the moment. Adults always say that high school is the best four years of your life, but this is only true if you, YES YOU *aggressively points at individual reader,* make them memorable. Go to football games, dress crazy during Homecoming week, meet new people, just put yourself out there and have fun. All these memories are just waiting for us, but it’s our choice if we want them or not.

I cannot force you, dear reader, to start the school year off with a positive attitude, nor can I tell you that your experiences will be as top notch as you always hope for them to be. But I can give you a little task in order to better your 2015 – 2016 school year. Walk into the building during the first few weeks and count all the good things about being back. It may not be many, but it will be enough to get you through. Stay positive and stay hopeful.