If you were fortunate enough to go there, you know that Naperville North is a special place. Its large size may seem daunting to outsiders, but it was home to you and there are a few things that only we can fully understand.

1. There were people at graduation who you’d never seen before.

When you had class sizes of 800, you saw new faces in the hallways every day. There were also a handful of names read off at your graduation (which lasted an eternity) that you swore you’d never even heard before.

2. You love to amaze people with how big your school was.

To further my previous point…

Them: “My high school was huge. We had over 1,000 students.”

You: “1,000? Try over 3,000.”

The look on people’s faces at that tidbit of information just never gets old.

3. The North/Central rivalry was real.

You wanted to be better than Central at everything (and fortunately for you, we obviously were). As a matter of fact, so many people showed up to the Crosstown Classic football game that they had to hold it at North Central College’s football stadium.

4. Everyone went to the football games even though they never won.

It wasn’t just the Crosstown Classic that was lit. Friday night football games were where it was at. The Dawg Pound always showed up in their full glory, sporting everything from Hawaiian leis to full on pink to the good ole blue and orange. Unfortunately, there was quite a stretch there where we didn’t really do very much winning, but we didn’t let that dull our spirit.

5. You had an unusual amount of school spirit.

Hey huskies, what’s your number? Hey huskies, what’s your number? Number one! Number one! Number, number, number, number, number one! For four years, you lived and breathed blue and orange. You know you secretly loved the cheesy chants at assemblies, and the class of 2015 did, after all, give our beloved Mr. Pobst a husky puppy as a retirement gift.

6. You knew something big was about to happen when Mr. Pobst broke out the orange suit.

Nobody had more school spirit than your principal. It seemed like everything he owned was blue or orange. However, when you saw him wearing the orange suit or the blue and orange overalls, you knew that it was an extra special occasion.

7. The 2012 lip dub was basically the coolest thing ever.

Maybe we thought it was going to be lame at the time, but the nine-and-a-half minute video featuring the entire school and “original” songs like “Huskie Rock Anthem” and “I’m A Huskie And I Know It” has gotten half-a-million views on YouTube.

8. You had fantastic teachers.

Your teachers weren’t just there to teach you Algebra and History. They were there to mentor, coach, and support you. Chances are you’re Facebook friends with half of them now and still exchange the occasional email.

9. Everything was competitive.

From academics to sports to getting college recommendation letters, everything at Naperville North was a competition. You were pushed to be the best at everything you did, which was kind of rough at the time, but actually prepared us pretty well for life after high school.

10. Parking was basically the Hunger Games.

You wanted to drive to school as a Junior? Oh, no problem; that is as long as you didn’t mind getting to school a full hour before it started to fight for a spot on the street. And then, of course, walking about ten miles from Benedetti to the school. Compared to that, Senior year was a piece of cake. You could park on campus as long you could manage to find someone to carpool with in order to ensure getting one of the coveted parking passes.

11. You went to the best high school ever.

Whether or not you’d consider your time at North “the best four years of your life,” you spent them making great memories, and you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Once a huskie, always a huskie.