June third marks four years since I graduated from high school, and I've been feeling a bit sentimental about it. Going to a vocational school left me with more skills and more life experiences than most high school students get, and I will forever be grateful for that. Looking back on my time at Voc, there are so many unique circumstances we find ourselves in that just never happened at other schools. In honor of the graduating class of 2016, these are 16 signs you went to GNBVT.
1. Writing out Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School was always annoying.
When people ask where I went to high school, I just say Voc. It's ten times easier.
2. Sometimes you catch the clock at 10:49 or 11:37 and immediately get the urge to go to lunch.
You better run and throw your backpack in the nearest seat before there's none left.
3. When school vacations ended, you never knew what day it was.
Nobody wants to be that person who shows up to shop for day nine when it's actually now day one of academics.
4. You had to remember three locker combinations: one for academics, one for shop, and one for gym.
But in the end, we just ended up using the same one for everything.
5. During exploratory, you ended up with more random little trinkets than you knew what to do with.
I'm pretty sure I still have that tooth mold from dental somewhere in my house.
6. You got to see everyone in your shop three times a day (at least) during academics, and every single day in shop.
And let's be honest, related was mostly for goofing off (sorry Auntie Linda, we all love you).
7. You knew almost all of the academic teachers, and sometimes had the same teacher twice.
And even if you didn't have them, you still knew who they were through the grape vine.
8. You spent your mornings and the time after lunch was over walking in one big circle.
Too bad there was no such thing as a Fitbit back when I was in school because I probably clocked 10,000 steps a day easily.
9. While everyone else was picking electives all through high school, you only got to pick one elective during your senior year.
Who needs a foreign language when I can get stuck in physics instead?
10. 10:49 early release days were both plentiful and amazing.
Thank god for professional development.
11. Getting to participate in SkillsUSA or BPA was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that not everyone gets the chance to do.
And Voc wins a lot, so we're pretty good at what we do.
12. Wearing your ID ruined every outfit, but you didn't want to get a detention for "forgetting" to wear it.
The two times I got detention in high school were for those two days I couldn't find my ID and it was awful.
13. Being on the opposite cycle as your friends pretty much guaranteed you'd never see them.
And getting switched from one cycle to the other was even worse.
14. If you were there in 2011 or earlier, you knew how amazing cookies in the side lines at lunch were.
RIP to the best snack on earth.
15. Having to stay after for maybe 10 minutes and missing your bus, so you have to wait until four for the next one.
Not that staying after was ever boring; you could always walk and grab Gary's Best with some friends.
16. The day you got your shop was either one of the best or worst days of your life.
You spend three and a half years with the same people and create your own little family, whether you love the shop you got into or not. I got pretty lucky with mine. And no matter if you're still in the field you studied in throughout high school, you're still better off for having gone to Voc in the first place.
