High school. When some people hear that word they think of it as the best time of their lives, while others think of it as their worst. Only being a sophomore, I can’t really say for sure which way I’ll think of high school after I graduate, but here’s what I think so far.

Sports. Homecomings. Pep rallies. Freedom. Those are only a few things that make high school worthwhile. There are sports to play and events to watch. Homecomings to dance with your crush. Pep rallies to show school spirit. And freedom to finally drive and leave for lunch.

Credits. Colleges. And cliques. Now these are a few things that make some of us dread high school. You can’t slack off in any classes, there’s credits that must be earned in order to graduate. Colleges and scholarships put pressure on us to know what we want to pursue in life. And cliques sometimes makes us lose our closest friends.

No matter which side you’re on when it comes to the word, meaning, and realization of high school, you will always remember the experience. Whether the memories made throughout the four years are some we wish we could re-live. Like having a crown placed on your head for winning homecoming. Scoring the winning point in a game. Or rekindling a flame you shared with your crush, the memories will follow you for a lifetime. On the other hand you might have memories you wish could fade away. Like that one time you lost your best friend. Or when you when you had to retake a class because you failed, and you needed that one credit. Good or bad. Enjoyable or brutal. The four years spent in high school are never forgotten.

For example, chemistry teacher Carl Hinote’s high school experience was the best years of his life, while language arts teacher, Katie Adams’ not so much. Adams remembers her high school years as nerdy. Adams focused on school a lot; she always wanted to maintain her 4.0 GPA.

“The most memorable thing from my high school years was a math grade. I was never great at math, I was always awful. I remember I use to write out paragraphs next to my answers to explain how I got them. And my math teacher gave me my first D, he said he didn’t accept essays. It almost messed up my 4.0, luckily I got my grade my up with extra credit.”

Although she had the grades she wanted throughout high school, which was a plus, the negative things she dealt with and had been through during high school, she wouldn’t ever want to re-live.

“I didn’t have the best high school experience, so to that essence yes [I would re-do high school]. But there’s no way you could pay me to go back through what I went through again. So overall, no.”

On the other hand, Hinote had some of the best years ever in high school. He thought of high school has a ‘social time’. In fact, his high school experience was so great, he had a hard time deciding what was the best memory he had, but when it came to the worst memory the answer was ‘mandatory finals’.

“The best memory was prom. Senior prom. Our theme was named after a movie, ‘Sea of Love’, so there was like 100 of us that went to see the movie before prom, then we ate, and went to prom. So it was a really fun time.”

With a ton of good memories, Hinote does have one regret.

“If I could re-do high school I would. I would get more involved. Like with drama, and sports. I wasn’t ever involved until my senior year. ”

In conclusion, Hinote had the best time in high school, while Adams’ had one of the worst times. Hinote has memories he can still think about and smile, Adams’ has memories she has to force herself to think about when getting interviewed, and every question was answered with a frown. Hinote’s experience was good and enjoyable. Adams’ was bad, and maybe even brutal. Although these two teachers have different perspectives on high school, each teacher remembers the experience. Why? Because the four years spent in high school are never forgotten.