2️⃣057: Wu-Tang is for the kids 👐

we can all agree the children need it

At one point, my lunch period in high school was like 73 minutes. Seriously, that shit was crazy. You could go grab lunch and watch a movie at your friend's place across the street and still be back with enough time to hang around the hallways talking shit before arriving just on time (late) to class.

We also had a snack/recess period earlier in the day. That one was short, maybe like 15-25 minutes max. A quick break after your early classes, before the longest string of classes that led to lunch, and then another two classes. For the sake of my most recent memory, let's just go with my senior year daily schedule:

Period 1 - 8 AM

Period 2

Snack - 15-25 minutes

Period 3

Period 4

Period 5

Lunch - 73 MINUTES LONG

Period 6

Period 7 - ends at 245PM

Periods 2-6 rotated weirdly, and the first and last periods never changed. Classes were at maximum like 42 minutes exactly (not a second less, not a second more){that's a lie, actually, maybe the end-of-day classes were longer, and one was rotated to always have tests during the same period with extra time, yeah it was definitely something like that}.

I've always been fascinated by what those meetings were like deciding how long each period would last. As someone who's been in many meetings where many adults are making adulty decisions, people are mostly just winging that shit 😬

But thinking about that one year, when we had a 73-minute lunch period, I'm thankful every day for the person who fought to make that possible. I have no idea why they did it, but they're a hero in my book. I like to think of them as the Costco CEO standing up for the price of hot dogs.

I know this experience wasn't the same for everyone. And I know I have more privileges than we have time to list. But I loved going to school. I had the best friends ever, and that shit was easy for the most part.

Because I went to the same school from Pre-Kinder all the way through 12th grade, and because it was all on the same campus, the entire school property became like a playground for us. From the day I started to the day I graduated, I would always arrive early to school and leave late. Because my mom worked at the school, this gave me plenty of time to see the school in all its different versions. Empty, full, semi-empty, semi-full, prepping for an event, post-event, teachers all tutoring, teachers hanging around together having fun, everyone going to the gym for a big game, etc.

Once you were old enough that you didn't need to stay in an afterschool program to be watched, you could basically roam everywhere and do anything you wanted (within the rules, if you wanted to go outside the rules, make sure not to get caught, jk jk mom, but maybe not).

The tucked-away hallways, stairwells, and classrooms people rarely ventured to. Spaces that always lent themselves to hideaways or exploration when most people weren't around. Or the very same hallways you saw bustling with people during the day, empty and desolate once 3:30 pm rolled around.

Every different person, every different group, and every team or club had its corners. Spaces transformed to provide kids with opportunities to explore the things they dreamt about, the things they cared about, the things they were actually curious to learn.

And across all these spaces were people dedicating their lives to nurturing, teaching, guiding, and helping younger humans learn about a world they would inherit someday. Some were good at it, many were not, but at least you could say most were trying. Most of them were there for the right reasons. Even if the rest of the world doesn't value them the way they should be valued.

And this place that's so beautiful, so full of hope and wonder. For many, a place that provides some of the best years of their lives, a foundation on which to build themselves as people. And for others, it might not do the same, but it still provides refuge from a world they don't truly understand yet.

A place where dreams are born and bred, where hope is created. Where you're told you can be anyone and anything as long as you work hard for it.

But now, 19 young souls will never get the chance to experience everything a school may or may not be ever again.