For the past three weeks people have been asking me when the Destinations Issue of the paper comes out. After telling them that I have absolutely no say in how or when the paper comes out, people say something like “you have to get it out soon! The Destinations Issue is, like, the only newspaper everyone reads.” An awkward silence usually follows, and then the person says something like, “I mean, I always read the paper. I love the paper. The paper’s awesome.”

I am a huge fan of the Destinations Issue. Personally, I’m not sure why we don’t have a destination type section in every issue of the paper. Except instead of which colleges students are going to we’ll have student’s ACT score, then GPA, then relationship status, then the number of extracurriculars they participate in. The possibilities are endless.

Of course, the Destinations Issue isn’t needed because everyone updates their Facebook to show which college they’re attending. I try to like every one of those posts, not because I know the person or care about what they’re going to do for the rest of their life, but because I want to show them how proud I am that they’re going to college. Then, when I see them in the hallway I give them a little “you’re welcome” nod.

However, it is still nice to be able to hold a neat little list of where your peers are going to (maybe) spend the next four years of their life. People often say, “only a place like New Trier would dedicate an issue to where seniors are going to college.” I used to think they were complimenting New Trier, so I’d answer by saying something like, “I know, right? New Trier’s awesome!” I then slowly realized that they were insulting New Trier.

So, to maintain my edgy, yet approachable, persona, I started answering with phrases such as “this school is a prison” and “it’s lame, everything’s lame.” But while I, like many of my peers, enjoy judging people based on different criteria, as well as knowing irrelevant things about people I’ve never met, I believe the Destinations Issue serves more of a purpose than just creeping on people you kind of know.

I made a tactical error my freshman year of track and field and became friends with peers a year older than me. Not only am I losing the majority of my running buddies, but people keep coming up to me and saying, “Dude, all you’re friends are graduating this year. Who are you going to run with? You’re going to be alone. God, I am so happy I’m not in your position, because next year’s just going to be awful for you.” I usually respond with a laugh while crying on the inside.

However, next year, when they’re all at college boozin’ and schmoozin’ and I’m at home freaking out because I didn’t start any of my college essays until the night before they were due, I’ll be able to pull up the Destinations Issue, track down one of my friends, and beg them to let me live in their dorm. Will I be able to do that if there was no such thing as the Destinations Issue? Probably not, because for some reason whenever someone tells me where they’re going to college I forget it approximately thirty seconds later and have to re-ask them.

And think about when you go to college, and you’re scared and alone because you picked a place 2,000 miles away to follow your dreams and none of your friends are there and everyone’s tan except for you. You’ll be able to pull out the last four Destination Issues and hunt down a couple people that came from New Trier. It’ll be an awkward situation, but it’ll be an awkward situation with a fellow Trevian.

I’m not even positive how many people are going to get to this article, since I know 98% of the school’s population reads the destinations section and then makes hats with the rest of the paper. But, whether you’re only reading this issue to judge how many people are going to better colleges than you, hopefully you’ll take my advice and keep a couple copies of this with you for emergencies.