Whether high school was your haven or your worst enemy, memories were made there that you will never forget. Personally, high school was the best four years (so far) of my life. I loved being able to go to school every day and see all of my friends, favorite teachers, and participate in clubs, sports, and activities that I enjoyed.

I overheard people in my graduating class telling others how they could not wait to get out, how they would "never walk the halls of the R.C. ever again," and how they were going to move as far away as possible from where they grew up just to see what life was like past the town line. There were also those who said they were probably going to visit every day after school and attend all the football, basketball, hockey, and baseball games like the proud alums they were, and I was one of “those” who weren’t ready to completely give high school up just yet.

This past weekend, there was a basketball game at my high school that served as a fundraiser for the travel teams in town. The teams were comprised of the 2012 State Champion team and the alumni captains from the past 10 years, and, me being on Thanksgiving break, had to go. As I got my ticket and sat on the bleachers, all sorts of reminiscent feelings washed over me. Seeing the boys I went to school with play again made me feel like I never left. I saw all the same parents and students, talked to them about how things were going between my college, their jobs, and different activities going on at Mahar. I sat with a bunch of girls I used to cheer at these very games with. When my coach sang the National Anthem as she always does, I looked at the same star on the flag that I always do. When the cheerleaders from the 2012 team threw up stunts or did cheers on the court, it felt as though I would join them, knowing exactly what they were doing each time.

After the game was over, I walked into the smaller gym and remembered warming up for every game, pushing the basketball players aside to practice halftime, putting up stunts with enough room for the girls to touch the nets. I remembered getting ready with my best friends in the locker room, asking each other if we had gotten all of our hair with the straighteners and if anyone needed help with her makeup. I remembered bus rides to every school, the same playlist in the ear buds for years, because those songs were sacred “bus songs.” I remembered having to be quiet when the boys lost, and being so loud if they won because that meant endless celebration.

Besides cheering though, being in my old high school again brought back so many other memories. It brought back the anxiousness of learning how to drive in the parking lot, and the excitement from when my first car was sitting in that parking lot for me, ready to be driven home. It brought back the feelings of happiness from when my best friend got her first kiss near the gym, and the awkwardness always felt on the day after everyone saw you walking or talking alone with a certain boy for the first time. It brought back the sleepiness of 7 A.M. and the freedom of 2:05 P.M., and everything in between. I walked by the locker that I always had to be sure was set on zero, and the classrooms that I both loved and hated to be in. I remembered my best days, where everything seemed to be going my way and my worst days, when everything seemed to be crashing down.

Taking a trip to my high school was so much more emotional than I ever thought it would be, because I had made so many more memories there than I ever realized. More than anything, I remembered my classmates, the ones who had gone through everything I did, at the exact same time, and felt an overwhelming thankfulness that I had who I did by my side.

To everyone who thinks that high school is a place of the past, I advise you to “take a trip down memory lane.” Whether you have been out for five months or 15 years, everything comes flooding back when you pull in that parking lot and take your first steps back inside, and even if your high school years were not your favorite years, they have played a big part in molding you into the person you are, which is something that should never be forgotten.