Jackie Cooke
If there’s one thing they don’t tell you about senior year, it’s that it sneaks up on you. Here, standing at the threshold of perhaps the most challenging and memorable year of my Wilton schooling career, all I can think is: How is it here already?
It’s actually pretty crazy that my “K-12” career is in its final stages. To be honest, as a student, school is something that never feels like it’s going to end. However, looking back, I’ve noticed there are milestones sprinkled throughout, some large, some small, that are looked forward to when senior year is too far off. So, with school starting, here are some of my favorite milestones from my past.
Let’s start at the beginning — kindergarten. Getting to ride the yellow school bus that I watched my sister get on for so long made me feel like the coolest girl ever. I even had a posse on the bus, which I think, at five years old, is pretty impressive. Buying lunch in a cafeteria was also something that I felt gave me purpose, so that’s kind of worrisome. But, nonetheless those were the milestones of my Miller-Driscoll days.
I was seized by excitement when I got my letter from Cider Mill indicating what house I would be in and who was in my class. Cider Mill brought the chance to go to after-school clubs (I was a proud member of the Knitting Club, which unfortunately, hasn’t been a lasting pastime in my life), a real locker to put supplies in (always had that magnetic mirror for that post-gym class sweat check), and tug-of-war games at field day that either left kids sweaty and grumpy, or sweaty and victorious.
Middlebrook. I remember racing out to the mailbox every day in August, waiting to see what color I was in, and then hastily comparing my schedule with those of my friends (I’m a three-time Green vet, in case you were wondering). It was liberating switching classes every 40 minutes as opposed to staying in the same classroom all day. The start of using a three-ring binder to store everything from my classes had a strange significance — a sort of right of passage as a middle school student, which soon evaporated when it grew extremely heavy around January. I mean, let’s face it, I had tiny arms. When I reached eighth grade, the Dinner Dance and Soaring Ahead were my focus. They were a great end to end those middle school years.
Good ol’ Wilton High. The king of schools in Wilton, WHS brought a number of milestones. It was surreal to see my peers playing in the Homecoming game, as opposed to unknown, helmeted boys. It was amazing to have “free,” or study hal,l periods where you could roam the halls, attend school dances with all your friends dressed up in gown and tux. WHS has provided many milestones for me, but the ones on the horizon have promise of being the best yet.
This year holds milestones exclusive to seniors, thus, more enjoyable. To get decked out in blue and white, and guard the “jungle,” the area of chairs and tables dominated by seniors for spirit week, to take comfort in ruling the school. To cut the year short and go on internship, decide where you’re going to college, to sign yearbooks for the last time, to dance at senior prom, to graduate. These are the greatest milestones yet. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate being a class one last time. Seniors in Wilton certainly will go out with a bang.
Wilton High senior Jackie Cooke shares this column with four classmates.