11 Signs You Went To A New York City Public School | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

11 Signs You Went To A New York City Public School

It was a wild ride.

346
11 Signs You Went To A New York City Public School
www.flickr.com

There are almost 500 public high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. No matter which one you attended, you surely found it memorable. Here are 11 things that people who went to NYC public schools are familiar with:

1. You went through metal detectors.

In case someone brought a knife to school (because that actually happens), the school made everyone go through metal detectors when entering and leaving. You learned how to cover up your phone in aluminum foil so you could pass through without suspicion.

2. You used your student metro card to your advantage.

You would use it to hang out after school with the third extra ride per day and you always tried to swipe for free on holidays so you could go to the mall.

3. You mostly communicated in slang terms.

You were basically speaking a different language with your friends. Remember saying things like "guap," OD," "tight," and "brick"?

4. Regents exams were a nightmare every June.

Technically, this isn't only true for NYC kids but every June you had to study from those red and blue Barron's books. And regentsprep.org always crashed the night before the test.

5. The FitnessGram was also a nightmare.

It was running as many laps as you can for the pacer, failing horribly, and sitting in the bleachers for the rest of the gym period because the show-offs would continue to run 100 laps.

6. You had to apply to high schools.

In eighth grade, your counselor gave you a big directory of the 400 high schools in NYC, color coded by borough to choose which one you wanted to go to. Plus, you may have studied for the infamous SHSAT and other admissions tests. That was a lot of stress for a fourteen-year-old!

7. The D.O.E. would call your home.

Every time you were absent, an automated phone call would come to your parents and notify them, "Your child was not at school today."

8. Spirit Week was taken very seriously.

Everyone made a big deal out of spirit week and it was certainly a lot of fun and brought a sense of community.

9. All your textbooks were outdated and worn out.

They were at least fifty years old, pages missing, obscene doodles everywhere and had a long list of people, on the back of the front cover, who had it before you that deemed it in "Good Condition."

10. School lunch was borderline garbage.

For the most part, all you got were oily and stale fries, soggy pizza or a suspicious beef patty, and a frozen chocolate milk carton. Once in a blue moon, they'd have mozzarella sticks, apple juice or popsicles.

11. You turned out fine anyway.

Going to an NYC public school wasn't all that bad and you wouldn't change it for the world. You'll always have some fond memories.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
student sleep
Huffington Post

I think the hardest thing about going away to college is figuring out how to become an adult. Leaving a household where your parents took care of literally everything (thanks, Mom!) and suddenly becoming your own boss is overwhelming. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of being a grown-up, but once in awhile I do something that really makes me feel like I'm #adulting. Twenty-somethings know what I'm talking about.

Keep Reading...Show less
school
blogspot

I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.

1. If something happens, everyone knows about it

Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Chandler Bing

I'm assuming that we've all heard of the hit 90's TV series, Friends, right? Who hasn't? Admittedly, I had pretty low expectations when I first started binge watching the show on Netflix, but I quickly became addicted.

Without a doubt, Chandler Bing is the most relatable character, and there isn't an episode where I don't find myself thinking, Yup, Iam definitely the Chandler of my friend group.

Keep Reading...Show less
eye roll

Working with the public can be a job, in and of itself. Some people are just plain rude for no reason. But regardless of how your day is going, always having to be in the best of moods, or at least act like it... right?

1. When a customer wants to return a product, hands you the receipt, where is printed "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" in all caps.

2. Just because you might be having a bad day, and you're in a crappy mood, doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me or be rude to me. I'm a person with feelings, just like you.

3. People refusing to be put on hold when a customer is standing right in front of you. Oh, how I wish I could just hang up on you!

Keep Reading...Show less
blair waldorf
Hercampus.com

RBF, or resting b*tch face, is a serious condition that many people suffer from worldwide. Suffers are often bombarded with daily questions such as "Are you OK?" and "Why are you so mad?" If you have RBF, you've probably had numerous people tell you to "just smile!"

While this question trend can get annoying, there are a couple of pros to having RBF.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments