1. All American is our claim to fame: I go to school in Patchogue, so most of the students live in Suffolk County. Whenever I say I’m from Massapequa, they immediately begin salivating. Surprisingly I’ve only had All American maybe ten times, but the strawberry shakes are to die for!

2. We all have a Baldwin story: Whether our Mom’s best friend went to Junior prom with Daniel or Stephen favorited our tweet, we all have some kind of story involving the most famous Massapequa family. I have a pretty good one myself, Alec owes my neighbor $200. 3. We don’t like Farmingdale: During my four years of High School, I did not attend a single sporting event. However, whenever it was Homecoming season I knew to avoid the color green. The Dalers vs. Chiefs rivalry is almost as bad as Giants vs. Cowboys. 4. Birthday’s were spent at Krisch’s: The Birthday Cake Surprise Sundae was the highlight of my birthday for the first 10 years of my life. Cake Batter Ice Cream, Rainbow Sprinkles, and a SURPRISE! Life didn’t get much better than that. Let's head up to Carly's together on Friday!! 5. 516 or 631: Nuff’ said. 6. Summers were spent on boats: If you didn’t own one, at least one of your friends did. One of my favorite memories from High School was going out on my friend’s boat Memorial Day weekend, and docking at Tobay (thanks Danielle). 7. Open campus was great, until it wasn’t: The first week at the High School, you basked in the freedom. We were no longer trapped in a loud, crowded cafeteria. Fredo’s at 10 a.m. Hell yeah! Then mid-November came, and after eating Zim Zarries for the third day in a row, you quickly realized there weren't as many options as you thought. You were stuck on Merrick Road until one of your friends got a car senior year, and off to Panera we went. 8. Weekends in 8th grade consisted of the same three places: Seaford Movies, Marjorie Post Ice Skating, and Friendly’s. 9. Weekend’s in high school consisted of the same three places: Sunrise Mall, Panera Bread, someone’s awkward basement party. 10. We all have a special place in our hearts for Coach K. As the holiday’s approach, I can’t help but think about Coach K. sitting with his reindeer ears. He was a man who had picture’s of his late wife framed on his table. He was the only person in the school who frowned on a Friday, and smiled on a Monday. Coach K. brought a little bit of happiness to everybody’s morning, even on the worst of days. Always in my heart and memories. 11. Yanking our shorts down as we passed Dean LiVecchi’s office: We all did it at some point. 12. Prom pictures turned out great: Chances are you or one of your friends lived on the water, so it was a perfect background for photos. Pretty dresses + a pretty background= lots of Instagram likes (thank Again Danielle). 13. Trying to explain Ames… to everybody: “Yes 9th grade was in its own building, and no it wasn’t considered middle school.” #thestruggle As much as everybody loves to talk about how much they hate Massapequa, we all have a special place in our hearts for the place we called home.