If you grew up in Rockland, Massachusetts, like I did, chances are you went to one of the three elementary schools in town, were separated from your best friends in middle school because you wound up on side A and they got placed on side B, and you walked the halls that took you in a square multiple times to avoid class in high school.

If you grew up in Rockland, chances are you made unforgettable memories like I did, whether you like to remember them or not.

Elementary School

In Rockland, you either went to elementary school next to a cow farm on Summer Street, to one tucked in the woods, to the one next to all of those softball fields, or you went to a few different ones because our elementary years existed when Rockland got rid of a school (Mckinley).

I went to Esten, the one next to the cow farm. Recess was 20 minutes filled with fun and the smell of cow dung. The walls were painted with little kids jumping rope, and the cafeteria had paintings of "The Wizard of Oz" characters and "Charlotte’s Web." Who else enjoyed chicken teriyaki and ice creme socials back in the day? Ha.

If anything, you met your best childhood friends in elementary school, hit double digits, and awaited that moment when you got to attend that big brick building next to the high school.

Middle School

The big brick building I’m talking about has since been demolished, but it was where a majority of the Rockland students spent their awkward middle school years. Roger’s Middle School was a building that was too old--too old probably 50 years ago. When you entered, you walked up those big stairs and said goodbye to your best friends like it was the end of the world until you met again at lunch. The bell was odd, for it didn’t ring; it dinged and the halls always seemed under-lit (at least in my memories). Either you went to school on side A, also known as the stadium side, or side B, the tennis court side. But before you entered, you’d wait outside with your friends, do laps around the building, dodging the football that got tossed behind the school (or maybe you were the one playing), and the winter was the worst. Winter was when you’d huddle with your friends to stay warm because you weren’t allowed to enter until the bell rang, even if you could see your breath outside. And although freezing, you would never be caught dead in hats and mittens because for middle school that is just so “un-cool.”

Here, we walked to lunch down separate staircases, in a “line” or clump I guess you could say. You could get ice cream at lunch and always had to get those little tickets if you wanted a salad. You sat through art, computer class (which was great because you got to make a sign for your door with colored ink), and felt lucky to get those tiny, ugly painted lockers in gym class; as the years went by, you hit 8th grade and hated changing for gym and gym in general.

The best thing about middle school was 8th grade, and the best thing about 8th grade was the fact that it was your last year of middle school, of course. But more importantly, the fact that you got to finally play in the Shamrock Classic, where you got to school your teachers on the basketball court as well as going to Semi, where you awkwardly danced with your crush at arms length. Oh, and if you were lucky enough to hit up Six Flags, D.C. or Philly for a field trip, that was cool too.

The worst things about middle school: no recess and snacks. So you’d sit and starve; your stomach would growl, and you felt like you could die, until lunch time of course, when you could get that questionable pizza. Your middle school teachers spent their time telling you that you would never have snacks in high school, no gum, no coffee’s in class, blah, blah… only to find that in high school, your teacher was probably the one handing out gum if you asked, and they needed coffee just as much as you did, so you spent some time in class to talk about what kind of coffee each of you got. Oh, and snacks? We had vending machines, and let’s not forget about Adele and the breakfast cart; my blueberry muffins in the morning were my favorite. Basically everything our middle school teachers said to us was false advertisement. And if we were really that starving, sometimes we could even run to Tedeschi’s up the street or even better, Dunkies.

I just got ahead of myself…High School

Finally able to leave your awkward years behind, Rockland High School was awaiting you. You were finally a big shot…at the end of the totem pole as a freshie. But here, you got to take a foreign language and Home Economics, along with having this amazing thing called a study and that annoying reading time, “SSR” was thankfully gone. No more lines to walk in; they even let you use knives at lunch. It was a big deal. Oh, and Junior and Senior Prom were always fun to look forward to.

Freshman year you spent your “firsts” excited and took in everything that got thrown your way. Your first football game under the Friday night lights as an official Rockland Bulldog (or a lame one on Saturday because the first frost hadn’t happened yet), your first spirit week, crazy pep rally, homecoming game, witnessing your first Mr. and Mrs. Rockland event, homecoming and black and white dance, and so on.

Fridays in the fall were spent under those Friday night lights, eating a hot dog, watching the boys play, cheerleaders cheering, and of course listening to the band; you couldn't resist singing along to, “Heeeeeyyy, heyyy baby, ooooh ahhhh, I wanna knooooooowwww if you’ll be my girl…” with all your friends (Shout out to those readers who actually sang this tune while reading it). For me, football season was truly fun, especially junior and senior year because that meant I could play in the Powder Puff game. The one night when the girls took the field and played against each other, and the boys dressed up and cheered. It was kind of like a rite of passage when you became an upperclassman.

Spirit weeks were hilariously fun, and the older you got, the better. Why? Because you didn’t feel as embarrassed to go all out junior year than you did freshmen year because you were unsure if it was uncool to participate. Our pep rallies were like no other; dressing in our class colors, freshmen always in baby pink and baby blue, decorating your sides of the gym with slogans, not to mention the funny teacher events and class games and chants. “13ow Down and O13ey” was my senior class’ slogan (RHS Class of 2013 baby!)

Something better than the pep rallies were those basketball games. Sitting, correction, standing, the entire time for a game with “Bulldog Nation” was something no one could forget. Turning around or pretending to read a newspaper page while the other team got announced, singing together and taunting the other team was just pure fun, but even better was doing the roller coaster to pump up our team, and of course, when that buzzer rang and you crowded the floor to celebrate, that was the cherry on top.

The sports teams and all our different clubs were the best because it built community and camaraderie. Sports for me were the best. They were memorable and you cannot forget about those team dinners with the famous chicken broccoli ziti from Mike’s Pizza (it’s to die for).

In all honesty, the part about Rockland High School that made it so great were the teachers, coaches and staff. They wanted you to succeed and were going to do anything to help you get there. They got to know you on a personal level and supported you in everything you did, whether academically, in theater, sports, or everything else in between. And of course your friends you grew up with made it unforgettable as well.

In RHS, I’ll never forget how much I hated having last lunch because I was starving all day, or how much I hated second because barely anyone was in it. I’ll never forget Peter Tolan, how could you? I’ll never forget how intense playing (or keeping score...which is what most of the girls did) speed ball was in gym, or how good chicken bowl and those HUGE chocolate chip cookies for a dollar were, or how sad I was when they stopped making both (depressing, man). I’ll never forget the sucky tiny lockers freshman year and the huge ones senior year, or how about when they sold hot chocolate in the library back in the day, that was the best. More importantly, I’ll never forget what it felt like to walk those halls with my best friends, talk to those incredible teachers, and learn in a place I could truly call home for four years; it was unforgettable.

And I’ll never forget that feeling when you were in your cap and gown and walked out onto that field under those Friday night lights (or in the auditorium, if it rained), to be greeted by your friends and family who helped you get to that moment or what it felt like to throw your cap in the air because we finally did it.

Those many years spent throughout those halls in every single school in Rockland are unforgettable and those memories we all shared are forever embedded in those walls, if only they could talk. Once a bulldog always a bulldog, right? D-O-G-S, Dogs, Dogs, Dogs.