In approximately one month, an asteroid named Ardor is set to collide with Earth. Scientists have been calculating for years the course of this space rock. The original calculations said that Ardor would simply pass by Earth, a nice light show for any person who would like to go outside and watch it pass. However, a recent review of these calculations shows there is an error. The scientists were wrong. Ardor is headed straight for Earth, and there is no stopping it. Maximum impact will be delivered. There is no saying if there will be any survivors. No one knows what will happen. One month is all we have left.

Don’t worry, that is not what is going to happen to us this month. Maybe it will sometime in the way future, but that’s a long time off. This is actually the plot of the amazing book We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach. I chose this book as what I wanted to read for my choice book report project in the course, Literary Genres. I must confess, I’m a lover of all books (reading is my favorite thing to do along with writing) but this book really spoke to me. Although it is written for a more mature age (hello Upper School students!), the lessons and messages it sends are something that can apply to everyone and their lives.

“The best books, they don’t talk about the things you never thought about before. They talk about the things you’d always thought about, but that you didn’t think anyone else had thought about. You read them, and suddenly you’re a bit less alone in the world. You’re part of this cosmic community of people who’ve thought about this thing, whatever it happens to be.” -Tommy Wallach

When I first asked Spartans the question: “What would you do if the world was going to end in one month?”, they all responded with the exact same “What? I don’t know!” The responses were partnered with the look of “why are you asking this dumb question?”. After some prompting of the Spartans, I got an answer.

When I asked Mr. Rosas what he would do in his remaining one month, he responded, “For sure I’d be crossing off my bucket list! Everything crazy I could be doing in one month, I would be out doing.” He’s already crossed skydiving off his list, how cool is that! Catherine Ann in 12th grade said that she would like to “taste the world’s finest cake and the world’s finest pizza” before the end. That definitely sounds like a yummy last wish before Ardor. Other people had ideas related to more personal things. 10th grade student Michelle Yakobi said that she would like to take her boat with her family to the Caribbean and be able to relax together. The response of Laurie Jean-Francois had to be one of the most thought out responses. This senior said that if she only had a month left, she would assemble a team of high tech hackers to take over the government, then while anarchy reigns on, she would take all the people she loved most and live out the remainder of her time in a nice cabin in the woods. Still my favorite response came from a student who said, “I would bring the world together in the last month. I would bring all the people together.” Now that is certainly a nice way to go – united.
So, although there is no Ardor and we are not going to get hit by an asteroid at the end of this month, there is still one important question left. Why wait until the last minute for something you can start doing today? Something as simple as hanging with good friends or spending time with your family should not be left until the last moment. No matter what it is you want to do, don’t wait until it’s too late to do the things you want. Start living today.