By Eric Vallen
I absolutely hated high school during my first two years here. Bullying at every turn, Riley Mcwilliams taking my food, Alessandra Kelly burning my essays in English Honors I, having an unbearable white accent in Spanish 1, taking intro to computer science, losing my notebook for Biology, crying every day in English Honors II, being the only person who presented a funny vignette, taking WHAP, being forced to watch Adrian Session’s Irish dancing videos, Gargi Verma taking my phone in study hall, Paula Smith telling me “you’ve changed,” all lead me to have some of the worst years of my life. That last one seriously still has me befuddled. Like, WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT MA’AM?
Anyways.
Junior year was amazing, even with COVID. Chris Haskett and the Zoomisphere were amazing. That man absolutely carried COVID learning. Seriously, without him, I would’ve failed every class last year. Eric Hsu always kept my spirits up, and was really relatable throughout the year, especially for struggles with COVID. Even though Renee Fawson’s dance breaks were sometimes kinda forced, I’m nostalgic for the days when the spanish version of baby shark would reverberate through my house. The construction outside Denise Picard’s apartment always cracked me up. Chris Mock’s marathon-like slideshows were always a good break. And finally, Adrian Sessions blank stares at the screen were just. Amazing.
And finally, Senior year with the creative freedom of journalism, constant arguments with Bryce Hadley, listening to Eric Buran’s ageist viewpoints, its all been amazing. Finally having a class with Andrew Evans has been a blessing. John Shieh is a godsend for indirectly endorsing my uno gambling habits. Finding something that I’m actually passionate about with photography class. Finally being able to banter with my boys at school. Truly, senior year has been amazing. Thank you everyone, for everything. Especially Mr. Shieh. I’ll be financially comfortable for life because of him.