The end of the year brings a mixture of relief and uncertainty. Clouds roll in and burst with rain, even as the temperatures rise and warm the breeze. The anticipation of summer tangles with the clamour of AP season, finals, and graduation, all of which comes and passes too quickly. Like the rain, we move through moments like torrents until we have only pieces to remember them by.

For some of us, the storm reveals the potential for beauty around us, invisible colours refracting off the droplets sliding down our classroom windows. For others, it washes away what we want to leave behind, dust and mud swirling into drains and exposing the black asphalt anew. In any case, we are left blank and hopeful for the future to come.

The renewal arrives in stages — first languor, a silent stillness that smothers our breath and weighs down the atmosphere. Sounds seem muted and lights glow dimmer beneath a taut layer of tension, inviting us to look inward. But soon enough, the surface breaks, releasing colours and voices in a downpour, rain slamming into our skin to remind us of what we live for. Once all is swept away, we are left behind with petrichor, a rich and reflective state just as evocative as the moments we've lived through.

In Volume 8: Monsoon, we invite you to celebrate the changes we experience as we live through the seasons of our lives in these three stages— Languor, Downpour, and Petrichor— to find ourselves amidst the storms. As you look at our next phases, we hope Volume 8: Monsoon encourages you to soak it all in.