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“Night of the Stars”: the name of FC’s annual formal alone is enough to strike fond memories in my heart. NOTS is something that I have had the pleasure and privilege of being involved in every year of my high school tenure.

If you are unfamiliar with the nature of our formal, each class gets together over the months preceding the event to film, edit, and produce a shortened parody or recreation of a movie. During the actual events, students dress up and enjoy a nice dinner while they sit back and enjoy the movies. At the end of the night, awards are given out based on the on-screen performances.

My freshman year, our class produced a laughably bad rendition of “The Blind Side“. New to the idea of NOTS , we scraped together a 15 minute film over a couple weekends of hard work. Whatever opinion you have formulated in your mind as to how poor it turned out, I can assure you: it was much worse.

The night was a great time with some of my closest friends, and I can still picture pulling up to the venue in a limo with my best buds. It was a great night; for however awkward we were and how bad our movie was, I can honestly say it was one of the best memories I have of freshman year.

I will not bore you of the details of the following two years, because it would simply be more of what you’ve already read.

Night of the Stars is truly a FC exclusive. My friends at church who do not attend FC continually express their jealousy of the event, and I consistently feel blessed by the opportunity to partake in it.

I can say with absolute confidence that some of the best times I’ve had at FC have been a result of NOTS. Between the filming, inviting dates, awards, and generally just sharing in all of it with my best friends, my high school experience would not have been the same without it.

Every student should make an effort to get involved in and attend Night of the Stars. I know from personal experience that Student Leadership is working their very hardest to put together the nicest night possible.

Knowing that this will be my last year to have a hand in the affairs of NOTS, I am suddenly aware of how lucky I have been to experience it.

I’ve always thought that concept to be so funny. We as humans (kids especially) have a tendency to be so caught up with simply living our lives that we don’t take the time to realize how important or fortunate our present circumstances can be.

There’s a quote that goes along the lines of “You never know what you have until you lose it”, but I prefer a slightly different view on the idea: “You always know what you have, you just never think you’d lose it.” I can’t be sure where I first heard either quote, but I can be sure of how we will lose the things we have as high schoolers.

Do not be a person who looks back with regret in regards to getting involved at FC. This is your high school experience, and I encourage you to make the very most of it.

Follow The Feather via Twitter and Instagram: @thefeather and @thefeatheronlilne. This writer can be reached via Twitter: @ChrisGrossman.

For more opinions, read the Feb. 17 article, EDITORIAL: Lending a helping hand.