Year 1

It’s the middle of January in my freshman year, 2021. My alarm sounds at 7:20 in the morning from my iPhone 8 in its strawberry patterned Casetify case that is plugged in on my bedside table. I bought it with my own money from Casetify after seeing popular girls on Tiktok who had similar trendy fruit-patterned cases. After snoozing my alarm exactly two times, I reach for my glasses. I’m forced to get out of bed now so that I’m not marked late for first period Honors Geometry,  a class that is so monotonous I wouldn’t take it if it weren’t a graduation requirement. There isn’t much of a dress code this year, so I throw on leggings and a sweatshirt every day since it’s less work to change out of for swim practice after school than jeans and a blouse. To “make up” for all of the new rules pertaining to COVID, they’ve opted to not enforce a dress code this year even if they never really announced that publicly. Today, I opt for my Moravian Academy Swimming crewneck and basic black leggings. No jewelry or makeup, obviously. Why put in all that effort just to sit in class all day? I grab my usual black Madewell mask with the nose clip off of the hook in my room and head downstairs. 

Breakfast today is the usual: two Eggo toaster waffles with some butter spread on top so that it melts into all of the squares. Perfection. I load both my school backpack (mint green to match all of my school supplies) and my Arena swim backpack into the backseat of my dad’s car and now, it’s time to go to school. That is, if my dad weren’t running five minutes late again. He always waits until the last minute to get ready, and even though I’m ready on time, I’ll still be late time and time again because of his tardiness.

_____________________________________________________________________________

After getting out of his car in the drop-off line, it’s time for Honors Geometry with Mrs. Manlove. It’s in the Walter Gym, a space now designated for classes on one half and handbell group rehearsals on the other half. This switch from classroom to gym for this class apparently wasn’t even because of coronavirus, the justified reasoning behind many of the other unfamiliar policies introduced this school year. All I know is that the gym’s walls echo and we can never hear what Mrs. Manlove is talking about up front, especially since she is double-masking for the winter months and we are all spaced out anyways. So, we instead plug in our earbuds to our computers and log onto Zoom. At first, this seemed counterintuitive to me: if we are in-person, why do we have to be virtual like the at-home students? But, now, I don’t mind it because at least I’m able to hear. More importantly, it also means that I can text Alizeh on my computer throughout the entirety of class. Depending on the day, it’s a mix of random chit-chat about our days (classes, lunch, and gossip), banter about Geometry class itself, or occasionally some fighting if we are at a volatile stage in our relationship. Sometimes, I hate that our schedules align and that we are around each other so much and even some days fear that it could wreck our friendship in the long-term.

Today in class, we are continuing our study of proofs. Writing out proofs for triangles feels like teaching a toddler how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The objective is so obvious and the triangles look exactly the same, yet there is peanut butter on the ceiling and bread on the floor and ten theorems to cite along the way. It has now been an hour and a half with absolutely zero break. Honors Geometry is one of the classes on my schedule that we don’t typically take a break during. Hence the incessant texting between Alizeh, Rosie, and me about anything and everything but geometry to pass the time. 

Now, it’s time to walk with Alizeh to Biology with Mrs. Weems. Although it is a trek up to the labs in the dead of January with my glasses fogging up because of my mask breath, we have 15 minutes in between classes with the schedule this year so we can go at a strolling pace rather than more of a speed walk. Once we get to class, I take my seat on the right side of the room by the window. It’s to the right of Alizeh, in front of Grace, and behind Chessie, so I have friends on all sides of me for optimal chatting. The reason I sat here on the first day, though, is because the tank with the yellow-banded poison dart frogs is right next to it. I like to zone out during class and watch them hop around from branch to rock to moss within their enclosure. I also learned that although they are venomous, this genus isn’t deadly! 

Class today is just reviewing for the upcoming midterm exam, so nothing eventful happened. I have goosebumps now because of the breeze blowing in the open window to my right. They’re permanently open in most of my classes for better air circulation, another practice we have adapted into our daily school routine because of COVID. Since I was talking and hanging out with friends while reviewing in Bio, it went by in a flash. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Finally! The lunch period. Again, I have this next class with Alizeh. It’s English 9 with Ms. Randall, but this year it's rebranded as “Reading and Writing Workshop” and we spend most of our time writing our own poetry and practicing other forms of creative writing. We meet in the library. Like the Walter Gym, this space has been set up like a classroom and now accommodates mostly freshman History and English classes. In fact, my World History I class is in the same room! I sit on the left side of the room with Tori in front of me. Alizeh is across the room since there were no seats by me the first day. Since she is on her own island over there, whenever we have free time I go visit. There is a new girl in our grade this year and she’s in this class. I haven’t talked to her yet but she is always talking to the other Swain kids whenever I see her during passing periods or breaks. Her name is Lena. 

Today, like in Biology, we are reviewing for the midterm. English midterms are weird because they are never just a test. I guess it isn’t really in the nature of the subject to have fact-based multiple choice questions like in many other classes. Ms. Randall has not posted anything about the specifics of our midterm, but we do know for sure that it relates to two stories we read recently: “The Flowers” and “This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona”. 

Lunch! The lunch cart has arrived! I’m always starving by lunch since the cart doesn’t usually come to my classes until after 12:45. Once I go get my container (it’s stromboli and Caesar salad today!), utensils, napkins, and drink from the cart, I return to my desk and set up my tri-fold cardboard divider around me. Other people really hate this whole divider thing, but I talk so much (too much) during class itself that lunchtime is like a social cleanse. It’s just me and my Netflix! I’ve been super into Criminal Minds, so that’s what I’ll be tuning in to. After lunch, Ms. Randall takes us on her signature walk around campus: no phones, no talking, only mindful reflection. It is absolutely freezing, but the fresh air is still divine. 

One loop around the school later, class is over and the final period of the day commences in 15 minutes: Community Time. Whether it's chapel, club, assembly, advisory, or a free period, we always report to our advisory locations since all of the things I listed above are virtual anyways. My advisory is in the AWC (Athletic and Wellness Center) since my advisor is Coach Danaher, the resident PE teacher and head swim coach. Even though I don’t love my advisory, at least it’s in my favorite spot on campus! Like during every other Community Time, I’ll probably go play basketball or throw a tennis ball in the gym with Jasmine and maybe Kanchan if she joins us. Then, I’ll finish off the day with a nap on the couches in the AWC lobby while I eat the snack I brought today: a Chewy peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar. Pure bliss. The one thing (the only thing) I love about my advisory is the freedom we have to basically do whatever we want, especially since we are in such an incredible space. This period always goes by in the blink of an eye. 

Just like that, it’s the end of the day and I head to the locker rooms to get changed for swim practice. Because of COVID, swim practice is divided into two groups based on experience so that there are less people in the pool at a time. I’ve been swimming since I was a kid, so I’m in the first group that practices immediately after school. There isn’t a bus service to take the first group to the local Wilson Area Intermediate School for practice because of COVID, so my mom who works from home comes to school to drive me over. I always go in a lane with Lila Mangino (a senior and the captain of the swim team) since we are closely matched in terms of speed and technique in the water. I can’t wait to catch up with her about my day and to feel the normalcy that swim practice provides. It’s the one time of day I’m in public without a mask, which at first felt extremely weird, but I’m used to it by now. Now that I’m ready for practice, I hop in the backseat of my mom’s car and buckle up as we drive to the pool.

Year 4

It’s the first day of September in my senior year, 2023. My alarm sounds at 5:27 in the morning from my iPhone 12 in its retro wave printed Casely case that is plugged in on my bedside table. We have our “senior sunrise” today, which is why I’m up before dawn. I would never do that willingly! As I gradually wake, I immediately reach for my phone to shut off my alarm and go on all of my socials: Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and maybe VSCO if I have some extra rotting time. Not the best habit, but the blue light from the screen wakes me right up. 

After many years of jumbled mornings, I now have my ideal morning routine down pat. Wake up, go on my phone, make my bed, open my blinds, get dressed, and then head to the bathroom to do my (lengthy) hair and makeup routines. I always lay out my outfits and jewelry the night before along with all of my packed bags so I don’t have to devote any brain power to that in the morning hours. Today, it’ll be my F&M crewneck with pink Nike sweatpants and my “M” initial necklace, appropriate attire for lounging on picnic blankets on the lawn. I have a dress and cardigan packed for later in my flower tote bag since we have formal dress for Opening Chapel today. 

A spray of perfume later, I’m downstairs. I load my arms with all of the necessities for today: my JBL speaker (for ambiance during senior sunrise), my tote bag, my backpack, my field hockey bag, and my field hockey stick. I load all of that into the back of my green Rav4, Ruth, and it’s time for my daily sing-along to my playlist blasting on the speakers during my drive to school. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our grade is meeting on the lawn outside of the AWC by the patio. As I stroll over from my spot in the Senior Lot, #120, I see everyone huddled together, sitting on picnic blankets facing the east where the sun will soon rise over the soccer fields. There is hot chocolate, coffee, donuts, bagels, and other snacks that my classmates brought to celebrate the start of our final year of high school. The sun rises around 6:27, but since there aren’t many clouds on the horizon it doesn’t reflect in many colors for our viewing pleasure. Nonetheless, I got lots of vibey pictures. After a lot of food, photos, sing alongs, and dance parties, it’s time to go change into my formal dress for the Opening Chapel this morning.

The schedule this year includes 10 minutes of advisory every morning from 8:00-8:10, so it’s off to Walter 106 (the room with no windows) first. The existence of advisory is ironic because the school had designed it to be the one constant throughout our four year experience, but ours has changed exponentially already. When Coach Danaher moved to Connecticut a few summers ago, she coordinated so that Mrs. Schanta could be our new advisor until we graduate. The people have also changed a lot: Tori Fegley came and left, Thomas Young came and left, AJ Lozano and Analia came over a year ago, Rayna joined mid-way through sophomore year, and Josh left last year. There are only a few months left, so I don’t foresee any other changes in my advisory. After advisory, I walk up to the labs for Physics with Analia and Jasmine who are in my class. The only reason I’m even taking it is for the graduation requirement; I would rather just have a free period with my friends than take notes on lectures every day. Physics is shortened at least since we have Opening Chapel, so the lecture on force body diagrams flies by.

After boarding the buses in the drop off line by the woodshop studio, our journey to Central Moravian Church begins. People always hate on chapel, especially the all-school chapels, and see it as a “waste of time”, but I actually like them. We are around people all day, always chatting and laughing, so the break and peace experienced in chapel is refreshing to me. I also like dressing up occasionally; today, I have on a cream-colored corduroy dress with a black fitted t-shirt underneath. My one gripe with Opening Chapel is that since it isn’t a Lovefeast, we don’t get sugar cookies and apple juice to eat together like we do in the other all-school chapel, the Birthday Lovefeast in mid-April. What is a visit to Central Moravian Church without juice and cookies? Chapel is over all too soon after a genuinely entertaining speech/story from Ms. Finley-Odell, our current Head of School. Next, we walk on the brick paths to the flagpole, where we will sing the alma mater all together – 1st to 12th grade – and cheer in the new school year. My mom was so nostalgic of when I was a little 1st grader doing this same tradition 11 years ago that she drove to campus and filmed it from afar. After the ceremonial “hip hip hoorays” have concluded, we board the buses to go back to school.

_____________________________________________________________________________

After the bus ride back from downtown Bethlehem to our campus in nearby Bethlehem Township, it’s time for a few minutes of Microeconomics before lunch. Let’s just say economics as a subject is not for me; every class I find myself just staring at the clock watching the second hand spin around and around until the bell finally rings. There it is! Finally! Today we have our annual picnic lunch outside on the lawn between Snyder and Walter, two of the main academic buildings in the center of campus. I line up with my friends as we wait to fill our plates with hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, fruit, cookies, and all of the other picnic lunch necessities. We always sit on the Alumni Circle to eat our lunch since there are ants in the grass that love to crawl onto our paper plates and climb all over our food.

My day post-lunch consists of two classes and then a free period and Office Hours. Before the blissful experience that is being at school but not being in class, I have AP English Lit & Comp with Mr. Molloy and AP Statistics with Mrs. Schanta. I didn’t really know what to do with my schedule this year, so I asked some seniors last year what they took and just did the same thing. I committed to Franklin & Marshall College to play field hockey during junior year, so I have been kind of tapped out since then. I’m thriving in school, though, not just surviving like I did in junior year when I was taking a bunch of APs including AP Chemistry and AP Calculus. Junior year was hellish because of the amount of work I had every day, but I’m on the other side of that thank goodness! Aside from the required classes I have to take to graduate, school this year is shaping up to be super fun and memorable. There are so many events and activities the seniors are doing: car decorating, the retreat, a senior trip, and senior skip and senior assassin in the spring. But now, I have to go read some poetry and take notes on one-variable data before I’m free. The classes themselves are fine, it’s just that for the first time in my high school years, the amount of fun parts about school are outweighing the amount of not fun parts about school. So, classes are a drag. But, nevertheless, we persist! 

Free perioddddddd! My favorite time of day. I usually rotate between scrolling through Tiktok, napping, going on walks, and playing Spikeball. Today, I’m going to go outside and play Spikeball with Kanchan, Emily, and Chelsea, who I share F period free with this year. It’s really bringing me back to the end of junior year. We played very, very competitive Spikeball so often that rings of mud formed on the lawn between Snyder and Walter from us stomping down on the grass. Natural Spikeball courts! After some Spikeball, and lots of gossip, it’s time for Office Hours, which is essentially another free period. 

Office Hours is a new thing blocked into last period in the schedule two times a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 2:20 until we are dismissed at 3:15. It was created with the idea that students could meet with teachers for extra help or as a period when test conflicts could be rescheduled into. Since this is my last year of high school, though, I promised myself that I would be more carefree and hang out with my friends whenever possible to make the most of senior year. Seniors have the privilege of leaving school during Office Hours as one of our many “senior privileges”, which are exactly what they sound like: rewards given to the senior class only that make all of the other grades envious. I envision a lot of meet-ups either at the Chick-fil-A, Playa Bowls, or Starbucks during this time throughout the rest of the year. Today though, I’m staying on campus and relaxing in the AWC lounge since I have field hockey practice after school.

As the day is winding down, it’s almost time for field hockey practice! This is why fall is the best time of year. School still feels new so we aren’t sick of being here yet and it’s field hockey season. So far, we are 2-1 and have only lost to Northwestern Lehigh away at their turf. Our team is so small this year; we don’t even have enough for a JV roster, so it is varsity only this year. Ever since COVID, the size of sports teams, at least the ones I play (field hockey, lacrosse, and swimming), has gone down and down. I’m curious if field hockey will even have a team next year since there are eight of us graduating from a team of only about sixteen people total. After I change in the AWC locker room, I meet up with Quinn and Alizeh as we walk down to the field together.