High School is either a beneficial or a terrible time in everyone's life. There was acne, bullies, and unfair social cliques. Some came out on top while others were miserable every time they stepped through the front doors. Regardless of how your high school experience was, going to East Lyme High School was a unique experience that, regardless of what your experience was, was different than any other school.

1. Having to explain to people from other schools what "the Commons" is

As students at East Lyme High School, you quickly learn that the Commons is the large, open area that is used as a cafeteria and also as a space for study hall for upperclassmen. However, if you mention the Commons to anyone that is not a Viking, you will get a blank look of pure confusion.

2. The Cardboard Boat Race

One of the most exciting events that happen each year at ELHS is the Cardboard Boat Race. The months leading up to this event mean that the bottom floor of the A-wing is filled with students with rolls of duct tape and hot glue guns expertly crafting a vessel that they hope will carry them the length of the pool and back. Schools from all around come to participate in this event, but being a Viking means that you get a home field advantage and you also get the expertise of teachers who have been doing the boat race for years. However, this doesn't mean that your boat is going to be good. More than likely, you will sink before you even make it to one end of the pool.

3. Going to football games on Friday Nights

Whether you're a football fan or not, you were always at the football games on Friday nights. The majority of the time our boys were losing, but you were always there just in case a miracle happened and our boys won. You're also there for the social aspect of it. Freshmen are always up on their back corner of the bleachers and sophomores are spread throughout the rest of stands, while juniors and seniors are tailgating in the senior parking lot.

4. The Intensity of Spirit Week

Spirit Week is without a doubt the most highly anticipated event of the year at ELHS. People spend all year preparing for this one week in October. Here, Spirit Week is more serious than any other school around. You come to expect to hear the sophomores celebrating "New Years" at noon in the Commons and seeing tons of boys walking around in cut-off jean shorts and a mullet wig chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" on Thursday. And of course on Friday, you will witness a sea of blue, red, green and yellow flooding the commons and the gym.

5. Freshmen are always in the way

Freshmen at ELHS have a major problem with figuring out where to put themselves during the day. This happens every year with each new group of students. In the mornings, they congregate right in front of the doors that everyone is coming in. During lunch, they stand in all the hallways and doorways, effectively making it impossible to move. I can guarantee you've at least thought about giving them a good shove out of your way.

6. The mad rush to get a lunch table the first week of school

You learn very quickly how important it is to get a good table, fast. Once you and your friends pick your table and inhabit it for the minimum of a week. The challenge is getting your table. The first few days of school, you can see students running out of the B or F block classes to the commons in hopes of securing a table. You are lucky if you happen to have a friend who has study hall during one of those blocks. And freshmen, you're going to be stuck sitting in the hallway, so just accept your fate and don't even try.

7. The Locker Situation

Unless you get lucky and get assigned a locker in the B-wing, the chances of you using your lockers are slim to none. The lockers in the A-wing are so narrow, that you can barely even fit all your books in one of them. Also, you are more than likely to get a locker assigned to you in the area of the school you are in the least, which makes it super inconvenient to use.

8. Watching "The Morning Show" during second block

Whether you were in B or F Block, you knew that as soon as the clock struck 9, it was time to tune in to ELHS's daily news show, The Morning Show. A student run show that lasted anywhere from 5-10 minutes, the Morning Show told us about what was going on in school, whether it was informing students about or getting everyone excited for the upcoming sporting event. You could always count on the Morning Show to have skits that would stick in your head for days on end (the "Good Morning East Lyme" Weather Girls for example).