Always A Pirate

So today was the first day of school at my high school. Am I still allowed to call it my school? I'm going to anyway. My high school is called Palatine High School and it is the best high school ever (suck it, Fremd!). In honor of the first day of school I'll share my high school story.

I moved to Palatine to start high school and to get me ready my mom insisted I go to a summer school class. It was an AP prep class and I was not very excited at all. The teachers seemed really cool and the class was very project oriented. I happened to get paired with my now-boyfriend for almost every single project. I also met two of my best friends in that class. As usual, mom was right. The first day of high school was pretty good too. Well it is true that I was that awkward freshman that tripped up the stairs on my very first day of high school. Aside from that, it was fun.

I have always been that Hermione Granger-type girl (frizzy curly hair and all) that is overeager to learn everything. I guess that doesn't make me "cool" but it makes me pretty darn successful. I have also always loved to be very involved so right off the bat I joined the girls golf team, newspaper, student council, and speech team. My first year in all of these activities wasn't so great. My golf abilities were pretty bad, my speeches weren't great, and I did have some articles published but the writing wasn't great (totally not as good as this writing, that's for sure). I stuck with these all 4 years and by senior year I was able to rise to a leadership position in every single one and that made me so so so happy. I didn't start off great but I was able to get there and help all the new little fledglings get started in the best activities at PHS. Well this is starting to sound like a college application now so I'm gonna move on....

I will forever love my high school. My experience there was absolutely amazing. I am really so blessed that out of all the Chicago suburbs I ended up in Palatine and that of the two schools I ended up at PHS and not Fremd. That PHS-Fremd rivalry will always live on in my heart no matter where I'm at.

Never have I encountered a high school with a better staff than this one. These people are some of the greatest people I have ever met. Of course they are great at teaching the course material but they teach about life too and I honestly consider many of them to be friends. I took many AP classes in my time and they definitely paid off. From the hardcore APUSH to the fun AP Psych to the almost impossible AP Calculus BC, every class was worth it and every class taught me way more than just math and history. Seriously kids, take AP classes. Do it!

PHS has the best musicals and great classes and everything in between. Yet, I can say that without a doubt that the best part of my high school experience (aside from everything I participated in) were the high school football games. I am a huge football fan and I'm sure as you guys continue to read about my life you will realize just how much I really love this sport. Watching Steelers games on TV is always a great time (except when they suck which is unfortunately becoming way too frequent), but nothing compares to standing in the student section at PHS and throwing baby powder in the air. I think the coolest thing about high school football games is that those are your friends down there. That guy making the tackle or scoring the touchdown is your friend! There's nothing cooler than that. And when your boyfriend plays football, the pride you feel in him is almost unmatchable. I really don't know how I'm going to survive at DU without a football team. I guess I'll just have to become a bigger hockey fan....

The truth of the matter is I love my high school so much and PHS will always be my high school. We have this common saying and it goes like this: "Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate". I really hope that I will have this same pride in my new school. I'm a Pioneer now but deep down I'm still a Pirate. Ha I guess I'm a Pirate Pioneer. That's pretty cool! Stay awesome, P-Town. As the amazing GareBear likes to say: "Have a great day and go Pirates!"