Nearly two weeks ago, I logged on to Facebook and had a deja vu like moment. All of my friends from high school were on Facebook at the same time. The few times that has happened since I graduated was when something terrible happens, so naturally, I was scared. It was like a horror movie of all my awkward 16-year-old sayings and moments. Luckily, something terrible hadn't happened. My high school classmates were eagerly sharing a YouTube link to a trailer for a movie called The Preppie Connection. The Preppie Connection is essentially a biopic of a group of high school students in the mid 1980s that created a sizable cocaine ring that garnered attention from the New York Times and 60 Minutes. This would be a regular movie for most high schools, but not mine. The group of high school students that are highlighted in the movie went to my high school, Choate Rosemary Hall. If you don't know Choate, then you may know John F. Kennedy, Michael Douglas, Ivanka Trump or the dozens of other people that have come through there over the years. To most people, Choate is a snobby, rich boarding school. In all fairness, some of the stereotypes are true, but to me its home. It was the one of the few places that gave me the opportunity to explore life outside of northern New Jersey.
When I first saw the trailer for the movie, I was a little upset. Out of all of things they could include Choate in, why this? However, when I saw the trailer, I got over it. The cocaine scandal of the 80's is a part of the school's history, whether I like it or not. More importantly, it's just a movie and on top of it, I got this weird feeling after watching the trailer. I started to feel all of the emotion and energy I felt during the biggest moments I had at Choate. If there's one thing that the trailer and hopefully, the movie, will do is display that teenage invincibility and adrenaline that I felt as a high school student. As a result of watching the trailer four times in a row, I decided that in preparation for the movie's release on March 18th, I was going to write an article each week about my Choate experience. The first article is a list of the top six experiences I've had at Choate. Here's my list. What's yours?
1. SDLC
The Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) is a three-day meeting of students and educators of varying races, sexualities, genders, religions, etc. from across the country. It is a utopia for students of all different backgrounds to come together to share ideas and love. There is no judgement. There is no hate. There is no anger. There is only comfort, release and warmth. It is a picture of what our country could and should be in the future. I had the privilege of attending the 2012 conference in Houston and it was the best Choate related experience I had during my four years. To this day, I stay in contact with the people I met in 2012, as well as attendees of the 2011 and 2013 conferences. SDLC allowed me to open up and admit things to myself and about myself that I had never shared before. Not to mention, it was like being at a huge party. Everybody was dancing, hugging, singing and just having a good time. If I could repeat those three days for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be too upset.
2. Diversity Day
During the first three years of my high school experience, Choate celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a speaker, performance or something of the like at 11:00 a.m. and be done by 12:30 p.m. Outside of that, Choate did little to address the racial, economic and religious issues Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to. Following my trip to SDLC in 2012, my friends and I that attended the conference decided that we were going to revamp our school's Martin Luther King Jr. Day program to make it an all day thing that implemented the things that made SDLC special. Most importantly, we wanted to educate people about things outside of the Choate world or Choate Bubble, as we like to call it. On MLK Day 2014, we made it happen. We had our first Diversity Day and it is a tradition that lives on and grows to this day.
3. Interschool Parties
As you can imagine, a good party at a boarding school is hard to come by. As a student of color, a party that you consider fun is even harder to come by. This is why "interschools" were so important during my time at Choate. "Interschools" are parties that happen two to three times a semester at various schools. They are often hosted by a school's Black Student Union, Caribbean Student Union, etc. What separates these parties is that they include six to seven schools that are not your own. Not to mention, the DJ usually plays Rap, Dancehall or Club music that is different from the typical Dubstep and EDM you hear at a boarding school party. During my time at Choate, I went to every "interschool" that Choate went to. That is how important they were to me. To put it simply, I was an interschool hall of famer. Not only did I go to every "interschool" that Choate went to during my four years, I went to the last Pearle Street Interschool. Before it was shut down in 2011 for "unknown reasons", Pearle Street was the biggest "interschool" in the New England area. It was held every year in Massachusetts and gathered up to twenty independent schools at one night club. Simply put, it was lit. On top of that, I helped orchestrate all of the interschools at Choate from the spring of 2012 to my graduation in June of 2014. During that time, we put together the largest "interschool" in Choate's history. That one party brought together over 800 people from ten schools in four different states. Like I said, interschool hall of famer.
4. Deerfield Basketball Games
Deerfield Academy is Choate's "rival" school. I use the word 'rival' very, very...very loosely. While they are a great academic institution, they can't see us in pretty much any sport other than hockey or lacrosse. Each year, we play Deerfield in all of our major fall sports on a day called "Deerfield Day" or for them, "Choate Day". All it really is, is them losing really badly in a lot of games, especially football. With that being said, I enjoy the Deerfield basketball games a little bit more than Deerfield Day. I know "Deerfield Day" is supposed to be this long and proud tradition, but the basketball games are just better in my opinion. Each basketball season, Deerfield and Choate JV and Varsity teams play on a single night. I have always loved this tradition more than Deerfield Day for three reasons. The first reason is that it's inside. It's cold on Deerfield Day. It just is and I'm not built for it. The second reason is that when you talk trash, Deerfield can hear every single word. When you're watching soccer or football, you're usually on opposite sides of the field, so all they can hear are the big, coordinated cheers. No! I want them to hear me talking about how the center can't shoot, the point guard's Mom is ugly, how I'm going to take the small forward's girlfriend at halftime, etc. I want them to hear all the disrespect I am throwing their way. The last reason is that I love watching basketball games from the indoor track that hangs over the basket on the far side of the court. If used properly, it is the biggest home court advantage in a high school basketball game. Every time the other team shoots a basket, they see a Choate fan doing something crazy or saying something crazy. It's wonderful.
5. Surprise Presidents Day
Yes, surprise President's Day. I don't want the pre-planned, Tiz-predicted President's Day. I want a President's Day that no one expects. If you were there in 2011 when Shannahan retired, you know what I'm talking about. I still remember my friend, Chris Chambers, riding a scooter uphill to our dorm because he was so excited about Mrs. President's Day. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Choate has a long tradition of a day called "President's Day". At Choate, we never get off for the official President's Day holiday. Our President's Day is a random day that the headmaster decides to give students off. It's usually never announced ahead of time and students usually don't find out until 9:30 p.m. the night before. As a result, you have to at least start your homework and pretend like school is going to happen the next day. It's really just a gumbo of emotions ranging from excitement to fear because you don't know when or if you'll get the day off.
6. New England Championship Track Meets
During my time at Choate, I ran four years of track & field. To be specific, I ran the races no one wanted to run, the 400m and the 4x400m relay.You could say I'm a masochist or you could say I took the opportunities that were available. Say what you want, but I loved track for the simple reason that despite popular belief, it is a team sport. Yes, you run by yourself in most cases. Yes, you focus on your individual events, but on every team I was part of, we were trying to beat the other team at meet. There was no prouder moment in my athletic career at Choate than going undefeated as a team in track my freshman year. With all of that being said, I never ran in a New England Championship meet and we never won a New England Championship meet while I was there. Although, we did come in second in 2013, but that's neither here nor there. I loved going to the New England championship meets because if you weren't running, it was like going to a party. You got to hang out with all of your friends from other schools that you never got to see. We would be playing football and wall ball on the side. There were girls everywhere that I could talk to too. In all seriousness, there is something special about seeing elite track and field athletes at their peak. I will never forget seeing my teammate, Kate Floyd, win the 400m and break the New England Record. I will never forget watching our 4x100m relay team break the school record my junior year. Track is such a special sport to see up close and I cherish seeing those athletes do their thing.
Honorable Mentions: Snow Days, Deerfield Pep Rally, Freaky Friday, Senior Beach Day, Senior Speeches
In all seriousness, I go on forever with this list. I may not have realized it in the moment, but Choate is a special place. It gave me so many opportunities and opened my eyes to so many things. I will forever be in debt to C. Lord, Mr. Noel and so many others that made my Choate experience possible. I love college. I love the freedom and the memories, but I will never forget the four years prior. Forever true, always.
