Many years ago, the polished stainless steel of refrigerators was a rare sight; numerous quizzes and art projects hid any shiny surface.

Now, instead of refrigerators, students’ Y-Drives hold their memories and accomplishments, with years and years of essays, projects and pictures. There is the project about Egypt that took countless hours of work in fifth grade, the PSA about how to save the environment that earned an A in eighth grade, the poems that rhymed surprisingly well from sixth grade and numerous other works.

These memories are wiped out when students graduate Staples.

Every graduating seniors’ Y-Drive is deleted on the last day of June each school year. All online accounts, such as Google Apps and Schoology, are also disabled on this date. According to Director of Technology Natalie Carrignan, this is due to space and cost.

This is upsetting to some students, because it means they lose a lot of work from many years of school.

“I would prefer if things stayed, ‘cause it may be nice to look back on one day,” Eric Zurmuehle ’14 said.

For other students, it is simply part of the graduation process.

“It’s a little strange to think that everything I’ve worked on in high school will be gone as soon as I graduate, but that’s part of moving on and the road to college,” Caroline O’Brien ’14 said.

However, there is a way to transfer Y-drive content and Gmail messages that are worth saving.

“I will definitely go through my Y-drive and save anything that I don’t want to disappear,” Melony Malkin ’14 said. She said that she will save essays that may help her sister and special things from elementary school.

Other students agreed, saying that these golden memories are certainly worth saving to cherish later in life.