By Grace Mersch
May 11, 2021
At Norwood High School, the last normal day of school was March 13, 2020 — but we didn’t know it yet.
What we thought would be a three-week spring break turned into three months out of school. Summer wasn’t any better and neither was the two-day-a-week in-person schedule, which conveniently split my friend group to where I didn’t see some of my friends for nearly a whole year.
If there’s one quote I haven’t been able to forget, it would be this one from actor Ed Helms in The Office: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”
Flash forward to today. It’s May again, and graduation is two weeks away. That’s when I decided to make this list. For everyone who graduates after the Class of 2021, here are 10 things I wish I cherished before leaving high school.
- Hanging out at your friends’ lockers.
Shoutout to AP Government pre-COVID, where my friends and I practically lived outside of Mr. Robisch’s room.
- Class celebrations.
Again, shoutout to AP Government and the donuts we got after each test. Also, shoutout to the Valentine’s Day party in Newspaper last year. I hope the team after me gets to have as much fun as we did.
- The lunch tables.
If you’re like me, your lunch table group changes year after year. None of us knew the 2019-2020 school year would be the last one where all of us would be able to laugh (and complain) together.
- Field trips.
There’s nothing like a bumpy, loud school bus with rattling windows that never shut — especially in the freezing cold.
- Working in the library.
If your teacher let you go to the library for class — or sometimes the mini auditorium or even outside — you were lucky.
- Pep rallies.
The school spirit, the overall atmosphere during those days, the ability to leave class an hour early — unparalleled.
- Free bells.
Unfortunately you don’t get too many of those in the future.
- The assemblies.
Yes, even the boring ones.
- Your teachers.
You will miss them one day.
- The lack of responsibility.
This goes without saying. Before you get a job, cherish the time you spend taking after-school naps or hanging out with friends on the weekdays.
I know someday things will be back to normal, but they will never be the same as before. There’s always going to be an end to high school, and I hope everyone will be able to preserve the joys (and sufferings) of those four years. After all, you never know they’re leaving until they’re gone.
THE MIRЯOR 