It was a Monday. Fourth-period calculus had just ended, and I was starving. I took out my wallet and saw that I had $3, enough money to get a sandwich. I quickly walked out of the south entrance, thinking whether I should get a bacon double cheeseburger or a triple. I took a few steps toward the crosswalk, a familiar daily route to the white truck where my lunch awaited. But to my surprise, it wasn’t there!

In the close-knit and often times too-familiar atmosphere at Uni, venturing to other schools can be an exciting experience, especially if it’s for a fun social event, such as a dance.

This weekend I’m attending a dance at Culver, a boarding school in Indiana. In the process, I get to go on a road trip up there with a few friends and spend the night in a hotel, as well as meet a lot of new people (in uniform!) whose day-to-day life is extremely different from mine.

About 30 people are in each PE class. On Monday during sports class, 11 students were on the court. About 20 other students sat in the bleachers doing homework.

Uni’s no-cut policy allows any student to play for a sports team without worrying about being cut. This year, it seems many more students have taken advantage of the rule, choosing to petition out of PE as well.

Every year is different. Every year is a new challenge. When I first got into Uni, I expected every school year to be more difficult than the previous one. After subbie year, I was ready to embrace the challenges of “real high school.”

Recently, in one of the many locker room conversations of the illustrious Uni High volleyball team, the topic of me and my lotion came up. Now, if you don't know, I'm lotion lady — I have A LOT of lotion, before PE, after PE, basically all throughout the day, because I don't want to get ashy.

I'm sure some of you know what "ashy" is, but for every person who does, there’s probably two more who don't. The Webster's New World College Dictionary defines it as "1. of, like, or covered with ashes 2. of ash color; pale; pallid."