I love my old high school.

Round Lake High School, a school in a town in Northern Illinois, is where I grew up. I had amazing friends there. I had amazing teachers and mentors. I had an amazing experience in the school that made me who I am.

I didn't start thinking about this until a while back when my boyfriend's old high school was playing against Round Lake, and I realized how much pride I have for my school. I was talking up my school, and I started wearing all my old high school sweatshirts and t-shirts. All the Panther Pride within me just came out.

I wasn’t the most outgoing or even completely involved person. I was definitely more on the quiet and shy side. I did my work and anything else I was supposed to do as a student. There are definitely times when I wish I was a little more involved than I was because you truly can make the best of high school. But despite that, there are also times when I think back to high school and I realize how great it was.

In the first place, my teachers. When I think about high school, I automatically think back to the great teachers I had who helped me grow as a person. Mr. Trottier, my senior year English teacher, gave me the courage to write as the person I am. Without his comments, feedback and help, I wouldn’t even be writing this. I don’t think he realizes just how big of an impact he has had on my writing and who I am as a person. And this is what a teacher should do (or at least I’ve been told my from education major friends). Knowing you left a long-lasting impact can mean the world for a teacher. And I’m just so thankful for Trottier, Sapochak, Rolfsen, and every other teacher I’ve had who has helped me in the long run.

My old high school tends to have this stigma that it’s not good enough because of money, or education, or some other dumb thing in reality. However, one thing I’ve learned from the four years I was there is the pride my classmates have for our school. We had an amazing faculty and we all supported one another, whether it be in sports or something relating to academia. I can think back to all the football games I attended and I remember the screaming, the face painting, the cheering for our football team, our cheerleaders, and our guard team. We supported each other and we were so lucky to belong to a school that made it feel like we belonged.

Because that was the amazing part of my high school. You could feel like you belonged there. Sure everyone had their group of friends or even a sort of clique, but we all knew we were students who belonged to the same school. And despite having problems within, we could all come together to defend our school and show the pride and support for RL.