The prep chronicles
GETTING OUT OF BED
5 a.m.
There was the first alarm. Noooooo.
5:23
Second alarm. Let’s pretend that never happened.
5:30
Third and, let’s hope, the last alarm. I finally drag myself out of bed, barely, and throw on a navy uniform polo and khakis.
Heidi Groover, senior, Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy
5:45
My alarm goes off in time for me to do my homework. I contemplate doing homework, but instead opt to get another 45 minutes of sleep. I hit the snooze button a few dozen times to ensure silence.
Ashley Johnson, senior,
Central Valley
6:20
I woke up and ate a breakfast bar so I could spend longer on my hair. Rather than just putting mousse in it and leaving for school, today I was putting flowers in it because it was Hawaiian day for spirit week at school. It always amazes me how few people actually bother to dress up. I figure since it’s my senior year, I might as well go all out.
Sarah Radmer, senior,
East Valley
6:50
I wake up. It’s actually more like 6:35; my clock is 15 minutes fast. It’s sort of like a primitive way of tricking me to unknowingly get up earlier. And you know what? It works. While waking up is always a depressing experience (God, I love sleeping), it’s slightly better today because I don’t have my 0 hour class, which I have to wake up at 5:15 for on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Tori Dykes, senior,
Gonzaga Prep
7:00
I make my lunch, which usually consists of V8 juice, an apple and a salad. The salad can be plain or extravagant, depending on whether or not my mom is up. If she is awake at this hour, she will go through our fridge and cut up anything and everything that could possibly fit into a salad and put it in a Tupperware. She loves me.
Stephanie Watson, senior,
Freeman
GETTING TO SCHOOL
7:10
I am ready to jump in the car to go when my oh-so-prepared brother remembers he needs to pack his golf clubs. Conveniently, my entire trunk is stuffed with decorations for the homecoming float, so we have to unpack all of that before we can load up his golf clubs and go. This always happens when I am running late.
Jamie Wachter, senior,
Lakeside
7:10
Today I have the pleasure of riding the shame train. That’s right, that big, yellow, germ-infested ego-crusher: the school bus. I ride the bus when I have a lot of driving to do later to cut down on gas money. I also take the bus when my car, a 1970 Volkswagen Bug, is in need of repairs. Most days I just put my headphones in, turn the volume on high and pray I don’t sit next to that one freshman that sits a little too close and talks about his love for WWF wrestling.
Sarah Radmer, senior,
East Valley
7:15
My mom left for the gym with our one and only car: a really hot ‘95 blue mini-van. I wanted to practice piano before school, but I realized that I had left all my books in the car from my piano lesson yesterday. I found this slightly irritating because this was the whole reason I woke up so early (when it was still dark) on a day when my first class is at 10:00 a.m.
Anna Marie Schaefer, senior,
Running Start/EWU
7:23
Pulling into the driveway at school requires me to get ready to go off-roading. Not only are there five speed bumps, but the added bonus of potholes riddling the asphalt make actually making it into the parking lot quite the task. The two-times-too-small parking lot is full when I pull in, but luckily I have a reserved spot today, so I don’t have to worry.
Jamie Wachter, senior,
Lakeside
7:25
Decisions, decisions. My day begins, as on every other school day, with the dilemma of what to wear. Should I wear my plaid skirt or my navy skort? Should I wear a white polo, or am I feeling the yellow today? Yes, I am being a little sarcastic because I wear a uniform, and it takes me maybe 30 seconds at most to figure out my outfit. Actually, I’ve grown rather fond of my uniform, it’s not so bad. I think today I will wear the skort, and I always wear a white polo.
Jordan Lee, junior,
The Oaks
7:30
The bus…I hate the bus so much. I’ll just leave it at that. I’m sitting in the back, listening to my mp3 player (Streetlight Manifesto… can’t go wrong), and trying to ignore the kid in front of me. He threw a piece of duct tape at me. Jerk.
Andrew Watson, senior,
Deer Park
7:45
I just finished walking through the wind and rain carrying my backpack, lunch, purse and notebook (hiking uphill both ways) to get to school. I cannot wait to get my license. Or at least my permit, for that matter.
Justine Bunch, sophomore,
Coeur d’ Alene
MORNING CLASSES
8:00
We walked into class and slowly filled the desks from the back to the front. The teacher put in another movie that was clearly made 25 years ago. “Do you learn anything in this class?” asked the kid sitting behind me. I didn’t answer. I think it was rhetorical.
Mitchell Kohles, senior,
Coeur d’Alene
8:04
Knowledge Bowl is over and I have about 10 minutes before school starts. I go and stand by my locker and talk to my friends. We share pictures of homecoming and listen to everyone’s comments: “Wow! You look so pretty!” “Oh my gosh, I love your hair!” “Did you see her dress?” Whoever said that teenage girls were superficial?
Stephanie Watson, senior,
Freeman
8:15
My AP Government class is pretty interesting. Today our teacher says we have a “huge, massive reading quiz that almost violates the 8th Amendment” (the one that bans cruel and unusual punishment). About halfway through class, he asks, “How many of you know who your representative is in Congress?”
Maybe two people raise their hands.
“How many of you know your astrological sign?”
Nearly everyone raises their hands. The results of this impromptu poll prove his point: My generation is clueless about politics.
Danielle Price, senior,
Mt. Spokane
8:33
I totally aced my biology test! I can feel it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Justine Bunch, sophomore,
Coeur d’ Alene
8:45
First period begins. In this period, I’m a teacher’s assistant for my debate coach’s English class. The day starts with various announcements, and then our morning prayer. We pray at Prep. A lot. Which I don’t really have a problem with; it’s just still something that feels odd to me, since I grew up in the public school system.
Tori Dykes, senior,
Gonzaga Prep
9:00
Algebra-trigonometry. I was almost late to math, again. With only five minutes to leave chemistry, get to my locker, switch my books and then battle the hallways to get to al-trig, on the other side of the school, I often find myself rushing into class with less than a minute to spare. Math is not my favorite subject. In the past, I have struggled with keeping my grades up. This year I have a really great teacher who explains things so I can understand them. I have gotten A’s on my last few tests.
Sarah Radmer, senior,
East Valley
9:00
Second period, AP Environmental Science. We take quizzes to gauge our “affluenza” quotient. I’m one of the two or three people in the class who has only one TV at home: most have two to three, while some have as many as six. I’m shocked to learn that a modern three-car garage is as big as an average home in the 1950s. This class both motivates me eco-wise and scares me half to death. I make plans to auction off all of my belongings and join a society of hunter-gatherers in the highlands of Peru.
Andrea Chapin,
junior, Ferris
9:10
There is a substitute in second period. Oh, happy day!
Kaitlin Barnes, senior,
Mead
9:30
English - a comparison of short stories
Kennedy Krossen, homeschooled,
Spokane
9:30
In yoga class I am learning to breathe. I am almost positive I learned this when I was born; I suppose I learned it wrong. It is rad, however, that I can go to a class, get credit, and not have to pay $20 a session. And the teacher lady is a bouncing beam of sunshine.
Meg Brownlee, senior,
Running Start/SFCC
9:46
Yay! He is at school today.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers
10:00
I am making a mental list of all the reasons that I could possibly have to hate math.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers
10:32
Walking through the way-overcrowded hallways toward third block is like swimming against the current; it is a struggle, and you need strong arms.
Jamie Wachter, senior,
Lakeside
LUNCH
10:56
Finally it is lunchtime. As I do every day, I settle into my spot next to the sky walk. Since LC has an open campus lunch, the halls become overtaken with the pubescent stank of teenage sweat. Lunch is the perfect time to blend into a group where no personalized attention will be paid to me. Usually this time is simply spent snacking on my bagel and orange juice and over listening into how the rest of my peers are out living the glorified version of high school that is portrayed quite well in movies. Oh, what it must be like to be pretty.
Conor Wigert, junior,
Lewis and Clark
11:15
I wish I had first lunch. School starts too early to have lunch at noon. Even if you eat a full breakfast, you are still nearly crippled by hunger pains by the time you finally get any food in the lunch line. That is, of course, after you decide whether the high price is worth the food.
Ashley Johnson, senior,
Central Valley
Noon
Lunchtime. During lunch I sit at the big round table in the senior section of the cafeteria. Our table is packed and it’s a race to jockey for a seat. I bring my own lunch to school most days, at least I know where that food comes from. Most kids at my table buy pizza from our D.E.C.A. store. I would love an open campus. Some students sneak out before lunch and get food from nearby fast food stores. Lunchtime is one of my favorite times of the day because I am able to catch up with friends I don’t have classes with and not focus on anything remotely academic for 30 minutes.
Sarah Radmer, senior,
East Valley
12:04 p.m.
We get out of class for lunch about 30 seconds early, but the bell rings before we make it to the cafeteria. By the time I reach the front of the line, all that will be left is chips and stale bagels. Great.
Jamie Wachter, senior,
Lakeside
12:10
The lunchroom is divided into various sections: jocks, emos, goths and preps are the main food groups. I even have an almost clique that I sit at lunch with every day. Hmmm…the unspoken rules of the cafeteria.
Justine Bunch, sophomore,
Coeur d’Alene
12:30
Lunch – not too hungry – just juice
Kennedy Krossen, homeschooled,
Spokane
12:55
I didn’t find quite my most favorite people to each lunch with…but they found me. We just don’t connect well, and don’t really agree on a lot. I sacrificed an hour of my precious time when I could have been doing homework. Now, I have to truck across campus for my next class and maybe check my e-mail before. For the past two days we have had no Internet at my house which poses a problem because I’m waiting to hear back from my professor in New York about my portfolio and letters of recommendation for my college applications. A little bit stressful, to say the least.
Anna Marie Schaefer, senior,
Running Start/EWU
AFTERNOON CLASSES, WORK AND SPORTS
1:00
My fourth period is Spanish and we decided as a class that we would all try to meet on Thursday evenings for tango lessons.
Adam Kuntz, senior,
North Central
2:00
This front and back page story for Spanish is going to kill me, no me gusta. Oh well, I’ll just write big I guess.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers
2:10
After an exhilarating snooze, I am on my way to work. I just remembered how far behind I am there, and I only have four hours to catch up on almost a week’s worth of work. Hooray.
Kaitlin Barnes, senior,
Mead
2:11
I stop at Jill’s Java and get my caffeine fix on my way to my tutoring job. There is nothing as soothing as hot coffee.
Jamie Wachter, senior,
Lakeside
2:15
Read some e-mails, decided to take some photos.
Kennedy Krossen, homeschooled,
Spokane
2:25
School gets out and I immediately whip out my phone and check messages. Teenagers would quickly die without our technology. I think it is funny that the district tries to regulate cell phones, music players and everything else we own. Of course, we have ways around these policies: We’ve learned to text without looking! I would be happier with this if I had texting on my phone, but I don’t. Thus, I must stick to the old-fashioned voice communication over my cell.
Ashley Johnson, senior,
Central Valley
2:30
Now my friend Emily and I race to change for cross-country practice and then we head out of here. We run for LC because our school doesn’t have a high school cross-country program. I’m really hoping it isn’t a run of death today.
Jordan Lee, junior,
The Oaks
2:30
Going home. I’m one of the juniors doomed to ride the bus: I took driver’s ed over the summer, and the soonest I can get my license is January. It’s my job to covertly cover my face when the “cool kids” (yeah, I said it) look my way as they get into their hatchbacks and Honda Civics. I wonder if my life is a lost John Hughes script as my too-perky, bald bus driver laments about teenagers “and their gosh-darn loud rap music.” The bus stops about a block and a half from my house, and I’m off like a prom dress without looking back.
Andrea Chapin, junior,
Ferris
3:00
Seventh period … just before school gets out. Digital Design. We’re making magazine covers. Mine is called “Nerd Monthly.” Basically an OXM knockoff. But much cooler. I’ve got a cutout of a Big Daddy from BioShock all huge and in the center, and the words “Nerd Monthly” have a weird green alien glow to them.
Andrew Watson, senior,
Deer Park
3:00
I check MySpace, then leave for work around 3:30 (I’m a part-time server in a retirement home dining room). For three hours I rush around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get food to all the residents on time. At the end of it, one of the ladies tells me I provided excellent service, which makes it all worth it.
Danielle Price, senior,
Mt. Spokane
3:11
Wild Walls - Hung out at my second home to (rock) climb, work out and socialize. I took some photos of my friends on the wall. Got some inspiration from a climbing video, Dosage 4. Some crazy good climbers!
Kennedy Krossen,
homeschooled, Spokane
3:40
I just microwaved a package of bagel bites and I’m eating them while watching “Dirty Jobs” on the Discovery Channel.
Katy Timm, senior,
Lewis and Clark
AT HOME
6:00
My mom has made dinner, but my dad and little brothers are still at soccer practice, so we eat alone. After a terrible school lunch, dinner was simply awesome. A taco/burrito/nacho bar is always better than any school food.
Ashley Johnson, senior,
Central Valley
6:00
My mom and I have some dinner while watching some repeat of “That 70s Show.” Since my little sister has soccer with my dad, it is a Costco dinner night.
Conor Wigert, junior,
Lewis and Clark
6:50
My stomach is ravenous, but nothing sounds good. I am too tired to even make a sandwich, so I settle on a bowl of cereal.
Kaitlin Barnes, senior,
Mead
7:30
Back home, but the day isn’t close to being done. I run up the stairs and back down again, then back up… then down again. It goes on like this for about 20 minutes. Compulsion? Not particularly. Compulsory? No kidding. Since I skipped PE last year to make room for German, I have to make it up before I graduate. So at least four times a week I find myself strapping on a heart rate monitor to satisfy the requirements for Online PE. Later this week I will hook up the monitor to my computer and send the saved workout to my teacher.
Andrea Chapin, junior,
Ferris
8:00
I’ve been working on homework since I got home from school. I took a break for dinner with my family and then headed back downstairs to my room. I’m tired of homework taking up my entire day, but what can I do? With a full 15-credit load at EWU plus an AP class at CV, independent study senior seminar (which we have to log 75 of our school hours for), trying to get 300 hours of community service for an Americorps scholarship, college applications and then the rest of my normal life, there is no time for anything! I can’t blame anyone else for my busy schedule; I did it to myself. While most parents encourage and push their kids in school, my parents have always questioned me to make sure I knew what I was taking and making sure it wasn’t too much. But homework will have to wait for now because I am off to dog training class at Spokane Dog Training Club at 8:30.
Maria Naccarato, senior,
Central Valley
8:41
Driver’s ed is over, and I am finally eating dinner. I don’t think it’s good for my metabolism to eat this late, but I am not skipping dinner. It was my first driver’s ed class. My teacher is funny, but intimidating. He had a seemingly endless amount of statistics about teen drivers and death.
Justine Bunch, sophomore,
Coeur d’Alene
9:45
I brush my teeth and wash my face, go on Facebook, check my e-mail and pick out my outfit for tomorrow.
Stephanie Watson, senior,
Freeman
9:45
Bed.
Andrea Chapin, junior,
Ferris
10:00
I watched the top stories for the 10 o’clock news, but then started working on my homework again.
Adam Kuntz, senior,
North Central
10:30
Play Tetris on my phone until I fall asleep.
Stephanie Watson, senior,
Freeman
11:25
Bedtime Reading – “The Last of the Mohicans” (assigned, not by choice!)
Kennedy Krossen,
homeschooled, Spokane
11:30
Fall asleep.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers
11:30
I decide that I am done with my homework for the night and set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. I study my Scriptures and then turn out the light. Maybe I’ll really finish those last few problems in the morning …
Ashley Johnson, senior,
Central Valley
11:45
I’m going to sleep now. I set the alarm for 5:45 a.m. Good night.
Katy Timm, senior,
Lewis and Clark
Midnight
By midnight I had finished up the homework that was due the next day and got ready for bed.
Adam Kuntz, senior,
North Central
1:30 a.m.
I wish I could get out of this horrible habit of falling asleep for an hour or two at a time, and then finish AP U.S. HISTORY in the wee hours of the night.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers
3:30
I will now be falling asleep for good.
Sarah Reyes, junior,
Rogers