My high school was the epitome of “a school in the middle of nowhere.” It was in a town no one had ever heard of unless they stopped at it while driving on the interstate.

I attended this school for three years. For three years I often was asked where I went to high school. No sooner than the words were out of my mouth did the inevitable question come.

“Where is that? I’ve never heard of that school.”

I spent three years doing my best to explain the location of the small town where I attended high school using its proximity to larger, more well-known cities. It could be tiresome, but it was a sort of conversation starter.

It is a town that most people have driven through without even realizing it. After all, it’s so small that if you blink, you’ll miss it!

Despite the fact that almost no one has ever heard of my high school, I wouldn’t trade my high school experience for anything.

I spent three years in the marching band’s color guard and won awards, even though we usually had one of the smallest bands.

I spent many late nights traveling with the basketball team because I kept the books during the game. My dad was the coach, I kept the books, and before my brother could play sports himself, he was the team manager. We were a packaged deal.

I spent many Friday nights cheering my team on, regardless of whether or not we lost.

I spent many Thursday evenings cheering my brother on, even though JV games don’t generate large crowds.

I spent many mornings in homeroom, gossiping about every little thing with my classmates.

I attended my classes that had just about the same people in each one.

I helped plan many events for my school with the student council.

I worked many events with the student council like Relay 4 Life and Spirit Week activities.

I graduated with a small class in a ceremony that highlighted each individual student and still managed to be finished with the full ceremony within an hour.

I went to the smallest school in the district. It was the school that I heard many students from the other schools in the district make fun of. It was the school that some looked down on because of its size.

However, there are some things not many people know about the school who no one has ever heard of. It is so much more than an itty bitty school in an small town nestled in the corner of a pretty well-known county.

It is one of the smallest schools in the 1A division and gets the region “Best Sportsmanship” award quite often.

It has a unique history that no one knows a lot about.

It’s a family. I knew the names of each of my classmates, and I knew a good bit of information about them. I knew the names of the students younger than me.

The teachers know you and care about you. I knew all of the teachers, whether or not I had class with them. I built relationships with these teachers and knew I could come to them regardless of what was going on. I still keep in touch with many of those teachers now that I have graduated and gone to college.

It will never be the biggest school in the state. It will never be in a well-known town. No one will ever not have to describe its location to strangers. It will never not hold a special place in my heart.

I’ll always be proud of my alma mater; the school no one has ever heard of in the town no one has ever head of.