Note from grade-12-Surbhi: This article was my application piece for the Beacon in grade 9 and is now my final contribution to the club. We’re bringing it full circle folks!
I’ll pass it on to grade-9-Surbhi. We’ll talk again at the end.
During the summer, family and friends would ask me what grade I was in, so I’d tell them I was going to start ninth grade. I’d always get the same reaction, “So you’re starting high school. Are you ready?” I wouldn’t know how to respond because I didn’t know anything about high school. My perception of high school was based on all the things my middle school teachers warned me about - the workload, strict teachers, and tall grade twelves - but getting used to all of those was easy compared to the desks. Don’t get me wrong, I think these desks are amazing in many ways - their tables slightly tilted to the perfect angle for frantically finishing your third test of the day, their beautiful fluoride-green hue, and the footrest under the seats, just the right size for the books you keep in your bag - but built-in chairs?
I know I’m not the only one who struggled with the chairs being attached to the desks. I vividly remember the first few days of school when the dismissal bell was followed by the sound of twenty-five chair-desk hybrids scraping against the floor, and the sight of twenty-five students shifting backwards in unison. We could no longer simply scoot our chairs back and stand; instead, we had to snake our way through the maze created by our desk and the one adjacent. It seemed to me that after a while, everyone else had moved on and it was only my lone squeaky struggles echoing through the empty classroom.
Signs of growth are already evident in the class of 2021; today, I hear no sounds of those trying to wriggle free from their desk. We’ve done it. I find myself starting to love what I used to hate about the desks; the chair being attached to the desk may be inconvenient when trying to leave, but I love the innovative 2-in-1 furniture concept. In some way, it makes me feel secure and protected. These desks are no longer obstacles in my mind. I’m starting to feel like a real bear. Now I just need to figure out where my geography class is.
Note from grade-12-Surbhi: Hello again! Though we haven’t gotten to see our beloved cross-bred seats much this year, I hope you could still relate to this article.
To the class of 2021: congratulations! I hope you recognize that whatever your fears and struggles may have been leaving middle school, you did it. And when you leave high school, you’ll do it again.
Image Source: “MCI Desks” taken by Emily Park