On my way to journalism today I went down through the middle school hallway. Going down there has brought back a ton of memories, good and bad. I remember learning about Independent and Dependent clauses with Mr. Lohrer, I remember learning about the black plague with Mr. Ardeno, I remember making those mazes for the cock roaches in Mrs. Boyles room and I even remember reading the Cinderella story how the sister cuts off her toe to fit in the glass slipper.

One memory I won’t forget was meeting Breonna Johnson for the first time. When i first heard about a new girl being at our school I was like how every other student was, curios. I wanted to know what she looked like, where she came from and why she left her old school. At the time of Breonna coming to Jefferson I was friends with Julia Ratliff. When I told her that there was a new girl she said “Yeah I know, she came from Waynesburg we’re best friends so.” I didn’t say anything. After a few periods later I finally saw the new girl, Breonna. She was taller then me by a few inches. She was also different, now I don’t mean skin wise because honestly that did not and still does not matter. By different i mean personality and attitude wise. She wasn’t shy and reserved like I was and still am a bit, she was outspoken and said whatever she wanted. She had no “filter”. Over the years we became closer and closer, she came here in 7th grade, by 8th-9th grade we were inseparable. We were so close that we could make fun of each other and not feel bad or hurt. Like other friends we had disagreements but never fights, until 9th or 20th grade. She was sitting at our lunch table and she was having a bad day and this guy called her the “N” word. She flipped out and then flipped out on me because she thought I laughed. For about a week we hated each other. We’d make smart remarks to one another but never tell each other’s secrets. One day I was sitting by my friend Alex and he said something funny so I laughed. She flipped out on me because she thought i was talking about her, Mrs. Caffrey sent us both to the offices and we nearly got into a fight. The principal sent out an email warning every teacher to change our seats and watch us. A few days went past and we magically became friends again and explained everything to each other. Ever since then we’ve been closer. Until she moved away, out of state. We still keep in touch but we aren’t extremely close. But the day he came here is a day I’ll never forget.

Another thing I remember from my “younger days” was the time Mackenzie Hanko and I became friends. In Elementary school we absolutely hated one another because we were both friends with Smanatha. We were jealous of one another. We’d always be in detention because of one another, wed become friends then the next day we hated each other. Once we went into 7th grade all of that changed. We became closer and didn’t rally care about who was more friends with Samantha. All that did matter was us being friends for as long as possible.

When I graduate I won’t forget school. Nearly every grade from 1-12 school has taught me something. School has taught me to stand up for people, school taught me to not be as shy as I was, school taught me friends can and will get you through anything and nearly everything, school taught me basic things that i’ll need. School is something you cannot escape, it will always be there, especially if you go to college. School is one of the big things in your life, school helped you to become the person you are today.

Now I know this column seems to be all over the place. Well here is the overall subject, make memories while you are at school even if they are bad. You will look back and smile about certain things, school wasn’t useless. Becoming friends with certain people wasn’t useless either, friends can teach you certain things as well too. Friends can help you come out of your shell and express yourself more. Point blank enjoy school, remember high school is something that you can’t really forget or hide from. High school is a big part of you and a mile stone.