Ah, it’s nostalgia time again. Time for all the seniors to think back three years to the time they left the guppy bowl world of junior high and entered the turbulent ocean of high school.
Remember trying to understand the first daily schedule? Remember the first time we heard Mr. Sloan and Mr. Coers read the morning announcements? These we will never forget.
How about the first pep rally in high school? Remember how we would stare stupidly at each other not knowing what to do? But we will be ready the next time.
“O. K. Class competition. Sophomores!” We leaped to our feet and began to scream, “K-K-K-N-I, G-G …” only to be grabbed by juniors and seniors and dragged back down. Those pep rallies were pretty rough, but they taught us the ropes. In sports, baseball won bi-district. In football, we got our bell back. If you were a sophomore entering a varsity sport, you would certainly remember the exciting (and sensitive) initiations the seniors and juniors gave you. You couldn’t forget them for days.
Then we were juniors. Wow! It was our turn to direct lost sophomores to broom closets. No worries about college, we had another year to go. Knowing which assemblies to cut. Knowing when to cut class without being counted absent. Ah, but we were a clever group!
A great year for sports! The Reagan game: day overcast. Stands are only partially filled. In the game, the sky clears. Our Knights burst through the run-through. We can’t lose! Everybody there could feel it. The team’s confidence was a tangible thing. It floated up from the field and enveloped all present. Suddenly, the night was beautiful. Our spirit was beautiful because everyone shared in it; it was impressive in its power. Like a magnet, it drew people from all over town. The stands overflowed with Mac students. We were united completely.
There hasn’t been a moment like that since.
Ordering senior rings, and the first hint of the responsibility to come. But that was a whole summer away. And then we were seniors. “What! I’m one credit short!” “Oh, why didn’t I take that course over the summer like my parents told me?” Spring begins to look better all the time, and another summer approaches. “The water in Lake Travis is still a little cold.”
The final countdown. “Only three weeks left till graduation.”
Well, here we are “on the threshold,” as the saying goes. I, personally, found high school to be the best experience of my life so far. I made many new friends whom I will never forget. I’m sure all seniors feel the same way, toward both their peers and teachers. So, this summer when you are lounging around drinking beer out on Lake Travis, drink a toast to high school. Without it, you never would have been so close to Knight-a-Burger.
This article was published in The Shield on May 7, 1971.
