Recently, Vernois 2019 staff has been focused on increasing sales throughout the school through adding marketing items such as signs, posters, and banners. This is all for one purpose: Sell more yearbooks.

Some may be asking the question: Why should I buy a yearbook, anyway?  

The reason is simple, but important: The value of a yearbook does not come right after it is purchased. It does not come when you finally receive it in August, nor does it come even one year later. The value of a yearbook comes many years later. It comes when you are years older and have forgotten all about your memories in high school. It comes when your son or daughter asks what you looked like or what clubs you were in in high school. It comes when you are feeling nostalgic and miss the “good ‘ol days.”

A yearbook is an incredible investment. This snapshot of a year of your life can take you back to places you never thought you could go again. Pat Conroy, author of Prince of Tides, said, “A yearbook is a love letter a school writes to itself.” At first, some may think this sentimental quote is cliché, but there is so much truth to it. A yearbook takes a collections of photos and words and creates a book that is, in a sense, a “love letter.”

Many peoples’ restrictions about buying a yearbook is the price, which is $75. This is a lot of money, but let’s compare that number to other expenses in our lives. For a month of gas, on average, a person spends about $144. For one month of eating out, the average person spends $232. Add up a year of eating out, and it comes out to $2784. Of course, this number varies person to person, but generally, this is correct. Compare these numbers to the meek one-time-payment of $75, which gets you a university-sized full color book of memories that will last, if history repeats, well over 100 years. Since 1967, MV has been privileged to boast the university sized 9×12 book, whilst most high schools around the area have downsized to the high school size (8.5×11) or the elementary size (7.5×10.5).

No one will never be the same age, or live in the same time, again. For some, that is just a statement, but for others, it is a staggering realization. Buying a yearbook is not about just “having a yearbook,” it is about memories. It is about seeing how much you have changed from freshman through senior year. It is about showing your family who your best friend and favorite teacher was. This is why a yearbook is priceless.