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A Special Day

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 By Ray Lee

The pink masses filled Harbor Hall as the first day of the 22-23 school year had officially begun.

The day is August 3rd. It’s a Wednesday, and it’s the first day of school. But how did this special day start, one may ask? With rain. Lots and lots of rain. The traffic was horrid as children were driven back to school after having their 2 months of freedom. To make matters worse, the u-turn near the school entrance that all parents had taken for granted had now been shut down! Drivers must now take the traffic light a few meters ahead, one that blinks from red to green then back to red in less than 30 seconds, allowing 5 or so cars through before another 2-minute wait. I remember the members of our car collectively groaning at this development, but we were fortunate that today was a special day.

Once my sister and I were dropped off, we headed to the Harbor Hall for the High School Assembly, and the first thing I noticed as I walked up those stairs was the mass of pink among the blue and yellow school uniforms entering the front door. Our class shirt! It was brighter than the photo suggested when we voted for the color of these shirts, but it still looked marvelous. Witnessing the mob even gave me a bit of pride and lifted my spirits compared to what it was before. With this improved mood, I entered Harbor and listened with the rest of the high school as we were reintroduced to school on this special day.

Following the assembly, the school day ended up going relatively smoothly. Even with a strange exclusive schedule for the first day, I got to all my classes and understood what was happening. However, the same can’t be said for everyone, as last-minute schedule changes had been applied to some students during school time.

Larissa Lee (12) reported a particularly severe case: "Having my schedule changed caused such a commotion that I couldn’t wrap my head around it." Nonetheless, most people got to their classes, and most people got to enjoy school again, hanging out with friends, conversing with teachers, and preparing for the upcoming on this special day.

As the cars drove in and children left with their parents, I sat on the bench by the front office, thinking about how the day had gone. Lots of things happened, but one thing kept coming back to my mind. Fellow senior Lei Tee said it best: “Sometimes when I see a pink shirt, I think ‘It’s a senior. Who is it?’, before realizing, ‘Oh wait, I’m a senior!’” This really is our the final year of high school. Of Dalat. It made me a bit emotional thinking about it. It's the last of its kind, after all. For us seniors, this truly is a special day.

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