And it is.

11th November

Today I learnt House of the Rising Sun.
My headmaster is a rather intimidating figure. He has a booming voice that makes all microphones seem unnecessary as well as a beard that seemingly has some kind of hypnotic feature. I had a mock university interview with him today and I think it's fair to say that I never knew the phrase "I almost shit myself" had genuine meaning.
After the first few questions and attempts on his part to throw me off my guard, I settled into it and held my own. At the end he gave me a few pieces of advice and I learnt a bit more about how to conduct myself in an interview. Scary stuff.
Earlier was the WWI memorial ceremony that the school holds at 11.05am every November 11th. The Great War has always been of interest to me. Not due to the political side or for its historical value but because I cannot comprehend how it actually could have happened. The slaughter, the trenches, no-man's-land, the millions dead. I think it's a good thing that nobody I know can get their heads around it. It shows we must have progressed if people my age can't relate to it. Maybe that's wishful thinking but hopefully, for our sake, I have a point.
This year my friend led the procession towards to memorial. He's head boy now. I remember the first time that I went to the short ceremony. That was six years ago and the idea of one of my friends walking up the steps to the schools' memorial was almost as difficult to fathom. When the teachers used to say "the sixth formers would be going to war" it seemed like a ridiculous notion that just aided our perspective but not it has a whole other meaning. 95 years ago I, and hundreds like me at school, would be sent to France. It sounds ridiculous. And it is.
This was the last school memorial ceremony I will ever go to. I learnt that there are so many things that I'll be doing for the last time this year and just how lucky I am to never have to do some things that boys from my school have done in the past.