Green Day Diary

More than 30 years ago, my friends and I all had yearbooks to record our memories of our white-shirt days, especially those of our senior year of high school. The summer of our 18th year seemed to come early, because we were both worried about the upcoming graduation exam and saddened by the thought of leaving our friends, teachers, and school. Despite being busy with studying and taking exams, the yearbooks were still quietly passed around to remember the beautiful days.

The student yearbook is filled with so many memories. Joy, sadness, resentment, anger, just like the wind blowing through the leaves of the schoolyard. About to part, memories come flooding back, filled with longing, so the beloved yearbook is quietly passed from hand to hand. Every time I hold your yearbook, I cherish it, carefully write each line of affection, reminding you not to forget each other, wishing you to achieve your dreams, and have a full and lucky life in the future...

For adults, those are cheesy words, but students are innocent and write flowery words. I look at my friends' yearbooks with their fresh handwriting, beautiful illustrations, pressed pink phoenix flowers, pasted photo cards or class photos, and feel nostalgic. That face, that laugh, that voice, every memory seems to appear on every line of words...

Not only friendship, yearbooks also record the hearts of teachers. Although busy at the end of the year, teachers could not bear to refuse to write a few lines for students. Teachers also showed students how to write, how to decorate, guided them to express cultural beauty, and respected creative personalities in yearbooks... The strong handwriting, deep emotions, and sincere encouragement of teachers are the motivation to help students become more confident, try harder, and be more steadfast. Flipping through my friends' yearbooks to write, I was moved to recognize the handwriting of teachers who had guided us throughout our childhood!

I also remember the time I was a student of the Faculty of Literature at Dalat University. Friends from all over gathered in the lecture hall with many pine trees and mist in the highlands. Four years passed by in a flash, and the last summer was so heartbreaking. The yearbook was also passed around and filled with longing. During our student years, even though we were separated, we were actually in the same commune and district, so it was not difficult to meet each other. But for students, each of us was in a different place, some went to the Central Highlands, some stayed in Lam Dong , my friend went to Nghe An, my friend went to Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, I went to Phu Yen, who knows when we will meet again?! Back then, there was no phone to contact each other, so at the end of the yearbook, we wrote down each other's addresses. We said goodbye and promised to return to Dalat together later!

In the past, when May came, senior students often wrote in their yearbooks. They also asked me to write a few sentences. Thinking of my former teachers, I was very happy and carefully wrote each line, hoping that my students would pass their exams, become successful... Many yearbooks surprised and delighted me because they clearly showed their personalities, revealed their literary talents, and their career dreams. The yearbooks reflected pure, sensitive, innocent, dreamy, and sincere souls. Thanks to the yearbooks, teachers and students understood each other better.

In recent years, students have become less interested in writing yearbooks. When asked, they said: they have smartphones to take pictures, create scenes, record videos, which are convenient and high quality, so they no longer write yearbooks. It is true that the strong development of science and technology has helped people a lot, but not seeing yearbooks passed around anymore also leaves me with regret and anxiety...

At the end of May, the school yard is full of sunshine, the royal poinciana is bright red, the cicadas are chirping, the rows of purple-flowered Lagerstroemia trees are missing someone and suddenly turning purple. Closing the school year with the graduation ceremony, the students capture the beautiful images of their youth with their school, friends, and teachers before parting with many modern devices. Looking at each group of students gracefully taking photos, laughing and talking, radiant with joy, I am also happy. I suddenly hear the echoes of Thanh Son's song "And sometimes when I miss each other, the yearbook remains/ Leaving behind the sad and happy stories", and my heart wanders, wondering who still remembers the yearbook of the green days?!

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202505/luu-but-ngay-xanh-caf6c08/