orange blood.

Yesterday I had the joy of subbing at my old high school. Working at the schools in my hometown has been a blast. It's fun to see faces I know, sit in the lounge with teachers I've had, and teach in classrooms that I have been taught. Even though I've been doing this for a while now, there was something a bit more magical about being at the high school campus.
At the end of the day, I was walking from the classroom to the office. The school was pretty quiet. There were a few students still lingering around, but most had sped off the moment the bell rang. As I walked across the campus, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. For a moment I went back in time. Obviously, I didn't graduate too long ago, but I realized how much has changed since then. That school was my entire life 4 years ago. I looked at the snack bar where I bought my daily sugar cookies at brunch. It was always a good day when they took them out a little early to leave the center nice and doughy. I saw the stage in the quad where my best friends and I would sit in the mornings before school. We would let our feet dangle off the edge and sip our Starbucks (but only if it was a Wednesday). Of course, we all had oversized sunglasses that allowed us to be creeps and stare at all our classmates. I stood for a moment in the long hallway that connects the two wings. Jake and I walked that hallway every day my freshman year. He would meet me after Lab Bio, and we would head to the other wing. Somedays I would wear his hat. We laughed the whole way, and Mr. Tashima was usually waiting outside to greet me to English. He would grin as I gave Jake his hat back and said goodbye before he continued onto Art. I think Mr. Tashima knew I liked Jake before I did. As I was leaving the office, I saw the auditorium. Nothing about high school beats eating Taco Bell in between rehearsing scenes, singing karaoke during over-nighters, doing relaxation exercises in the green room, learning some good ol' Katie Delano choreography, and desperately trying to have a ghostly encounter with the lady in white. As I was leaving campus, I took one last glance and spotted Tom Lucero's classroom windows. Between drama, AP, and Journalism, he pretty much owned our life junior and senior year. Like I always do when I think about those classes (my favorite classes) I felt a bit of jealousy and possessiveness. When I was in high school it seemed like we had such ownership over certain traditions. I just can't seem to picture other students messing with the Elvis phone or passing out in the Editor's station in Journalism. They shouldn't be able to make an I heart Gatspy club or a video as cool as The Golden Gnome in AP English. Tom can't write songs about them or get choked up at their graduations, which we all collectively can be a witness to
Roaming around the high school yesterday made me re-realize how thankful I am for it. Sure, it doesn't have a plethora of AP classes or mega funding for extracurricular activities, but being back on campus and working next door to teachers who taught me was humbling. I realized how much so many of them do care, and how so many of them did their best to give me and all CHS students the best experience they could. Sweeps and all ;)
I left the school and got a burst of inspiration. I realized why I wanted to be a teacher. I pray that someday I can provide memories, experience, and knowledge to kids so that someday THEY can strive to do something good and maybe even write a blog about it :) Anyone game for a walk down memory lane?