Daniela Sofia Galeana Gaspar, Grade 11
UWC ISAK Japan
Click! Pum! Bottle caps falling on the stairs, the common room covered in them, people going in and out of their room waiting for something to happen, anything at all. After finding out the disappointing news, flipping bottle caps in the common room seemed like the most amazing game anyone could have ever invented, the sound of plastic clicking against the floor and their bright colours painting the floor the most beautiful image to ever be painted. A renaissance painting of fun within a world of boredom.
A rather unlikely senior week. Since the first time I set foot outside the van that took me and my friends from Narita airport to school, the only thing people could talk about was senior week. An entire week filled with activities to say goodbye to our beloved seniors at Isak, or at least that's what 's supposed to happen.
Practically being a new student at school senior week was exciting, no! What am I saying? It wasn't just exciting, it was an absolute dream. The opportunity to do all those things I didn't get to do at the beginning of the year, before they left for college. I live in a house with a majority of seniors, 8 out 10 people in the house to be precise. I couldn't be any prouder of my seniors and all the effort they put in for the last 3 years, but I can't lie, staying is scary, having your friends all go away, while you still have two years left, not the best feeling ever. I felt as if senior week was the answer, some kind of remedy to alleviate my fear.
7:00 am on a Monday I'm sitting in Hiramaki class trying to finish as much work as I can so that I get the whole afternoon free. I look up from my screen and the table in front of me is empty. Hmmm that’s weird, I swear a couple minutes ago two guys sat in front of me laughing and making jokes. I turn around looking for them. Oh! There they are. But everyone is looking at them, a third guy stands up and starts reading out loud: “Dear members of R1-15, please return to your house right now for a covid test” Maybe reading it to the whole class wasn't the best idea.
In less than 10 minutes, the entire school already knew that sooner or later where we're going back into lockdown. Noise drowns the halls as classes start getting dismissed and a couple fools thinking they can make it downhill to get a last bottle of ice cream before it is official.
It had to be some kind of joke, senior week was so close, we couldn't go into lockdown! But it wasn't. Just a coupñe minutes later, we were all back in our houses. The next day we all turned on our computers and logged into classes. You could feel the disappointment all around the house. From the window a delicious aroma moved down the stairs into the common kitchen. That's when we had an idea, for the next week me and my friends baked as much as we could just so that we could take some small treats down to their rooms. The days went by and the mood at home was a thousand times better. We started taking walks, having a water fight, a pizza party, game night and of course, flipping bottle caps.
I could not have it anyother way. Maybe it wasn't what we imagined, but senior week quickly became my best memory. Spending time with the people I love and having to deal with my own thoughts. Truth is that I don't know if having senior week as it was supposed to happen could have been better, but I do know something after everything that happened. I didn't need to alleviate my fear, I just needed to live with it, feel it and keep moving, enjoy the moments I had with them and let them become a memory more. In a couple years I hope to be flipping bottle caps with my G10s, and hopefully they feel as much joy as I did.
Image Courtesy: https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/Contagious-campaign-of-the-week-colombian-beer-lends-its-bottle-caps-to-other-brands-in-responsible-drinking-campaign
A rather unlikely senior week. Since the first time I set foot outside the van that took me and my friends from Narita airport to school, the only thing people could talk about was senior week. An entire week filled with activities to say goodbye to our beloved seniors at Isak, or at least that's what 's supposed to happen.
Practically being a new student at school senior week was exciting, no! What am I saying? It wasn't just exciting, it was an absolute dream. The opportunity to do all those things I didn't get to do at the beginning of the year, before they left for college. I live in a house with a majority of seniors, 8 out 10 people in the house to be precise. I couldn't be any prouder of my seniors and all the effort they put in for the last 3 years, but I can't lie, staying is scary, having your friends all go away, while you still have two years left, not the best feeling ever. I felt as if senior week was the answer, some kind of remedy to alleviate my fear.
7:00 am on a Monday I'm sitting in Hiramaki class trying to finish as much work as I can so that I get the whole afternoon free. I look up from my screen and the table in front of me is empty. Hmmm that’s weird, I swear a couple minutes ago two guys sat in front of me laughing and making jokes. I turn around looking for them. Oh! There they are. But everyone is looking at them, a third guy stands up and starts reading out loud: “Dear members of R1-15, please return to your house right now for a covid test” Maybe reading it to the whole class wasn't the best idea.
In less than 10 minutes, the entire school already knew that sooner or later where we're going back into lockdown. Noise drowns the halls as classes start getting dismissed and a couple fools thinking they can make it downhill to get a last bottle of ice cream before it is official.
It had to be some kind of joke, senior week was so close, we couldn't go into lockdown! But it wasn't. Just a coupñe minutes later, we were all back in our houses. The next day we all turned on our computers and logged into classes. You could feel the disappointment all around the house. From the window a delicious aroma moved down the stairs into the common kitchen. That's when we had an idea, for the next week me and my friends baked as much as we could just so that we could take some small treats down to their rooms. The days went by and the mood at home was a thousand times better. We started taking walks, having a water fight, a pizza party, game night and of course, flipping bottle caps.
I could not have it anyother way. Maybe it wasn't what we imagined, but senior week quickly became my best memory. Spending time with the people I love and having to deal with my own thoughts. Truth is that I don't know if having senior week as it was supposed to happen could have been better, but I do know something after everything that happened. I didn't need to alleviate my fear, I just needed to live with it, feel it and keep moving, enjoy the moments I had with them and let them become a memory more. In a couple years I hope to be flipping bottle caps with my G10s, and hopefully they feel as much joy as I did.
Image Courtesy: https://www.contagious.com/news-and-views/Contagious-campaign-of-the-week-colombian-beer-lends-its-bottle-caps-to-other-brands-in-responsible-drinking-campaign
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