Emily is Smiling

When you're a senior in high school, teachers often seem to feel at a loss of what to teach by the end of the year.  At times, the faculty seems desperate to find SOMETHING for us to do.  We don't take the TAKS test at my high school because we're a private school.  Instead, we take the SAT--not the one that everyone studies so much for--but rather an SAT that simply marks how much we've been learning in our classes.  It doesn't have anything to do with whether or not we pass onto the next grade.  It doesn't affect us in any way, actually.  I know some kids who sit and doodle pictures in the little answer bubbles and don't read a single question.  It's a long test, so it lasts three or four days.  The seniors don't have to take the SAT, so our teachers had to take us somewhere else on a field trip.

So they sent us to Walmart.

I'm not kidding.  For two days in a row, we met at grocery stores and were told to gather with our groups of friends and compile a "shopping list" like we would when we were living on our own.  We didn't have a price budget.  I don't think our list was ever graded.  Basically, we were given an assignment so we would have SOMETHING to do.  Trust me--I'm not complaining.  Those days were fun.  But they did seem a little... strange.

After Walmart, we all went bowling together.  This was the best part of the day by far.  We wore our crazy-colored bowling shoes and laughed at each other under the black lights before bowling terribly... with only one bumper.  Why the people working at the bowling alley gave us only one bumper, I'll probably never know.

Some parents may have been annoyed that their kids weren't being forced to take the SAT test or do other assignments.  We were still in high school, so perhaps we should have been given assignments every day... right?  I don't know how many days we should a ctually be forced to learn things during our high school career.  I'm probably pretty biased.  All I know is that the week we went on field trips--to Walmart and bowling and a stockyard and a slaughterhouse and a park--made me think to back when I was a member of the swim team during my freshman year of high school.  Random, I know, but let me go on.

During practice, our coach would have us try to swim to one end of the lap pool and back without taking a breath.  That exercise was always incredibly difficult for me.  I would move my arms and legs frantically, trying as hard as I could to succeed.  By the time I finished, my lungs felt like they were near exploding, blood pounded in my head, and my limbs felt like rubber.  The moment I lifted my head above water and sucked in the fresh air, relief swept through my body like a cool wave.  Air... ahh...  After all that hard work, I could finally breathe again.  I could tangibly feel the strength coming back into my body as I sucked in those first few breaths.

Sometimes high school seemed like I was swimming underwater, pushing desperately for the finish line.  I had assignments and exams and essays to write.  The stress and pressure pounded in my head until I was exhausted.

A field trip to Walmart and bowling with my friends made me feel like I was allowed to finally come up for air.  During school hours, we could be kids again.  We could smile and laugh and have a wonderful time together as friends. 

Did we learn a lot that week?  No, not necessarily.  But we relaxed.  At times, after my moments of calm and relaxation, I felt like I could return to real school with new strength and vigor.  I'll miss days like those.