As all high schoolers know, life as a teenager is always unpredictable. Schedules are filled with sports, clubs, and homework which leaves a student with barely enough time to catch their breath before they do the same thing the next day. This year in particular has flown by in the blink of an eye. From changes in school to changes in everyday life, the culture at CHS has changed during the 2022-2023 school year. 

September, October, and November rolled around after our first normal summer in a while. The buzz and excitement of a new year filled the halls of CHS as students tried to remember their locker combination, talked to teachers they haven’t seen since June, and rushed to get to their new classes on time. For freshmen, this was one of the scariest days of their life, but for seniors this day was bittersweet, knowing that it’s their last first day. 

Friday nights under the lights rolled around and the entire student body crammed into the student section, making sure to uphold the tradition of seniors in the front and freshmen in the back. The band played and color guard twirled as the football team tried to live in the shadow of last year’s state champion team.

Homecoming, color blast, and pep rallies took place and students found themselves living in a cheesy coming of age movie from the 80s. While many students couldn’t  understand how the seniors could possibly have lost, the sophomores valiantly took the win. 

The leaves began to fall, corn mazes popped up all over, and halloween loomed in the air as October started. October felt like a haze as it faded away in the blink of an eye and suddenly it was Halloween when, as a teenager you think you’re too cool to trick or treat, even though you secretly wish you could just walk around and get free candy from strangers. For seniors, the stress of early action college applications began as students scrambled to get transcripts and write at least somewhat interesting essays about growing up in a small town. Juniors prepared to take the PSAT and the daunting, all-deciding SAT, as sophomores sat back, stuck in the middle of high school.

November began and ended as students left the comfort of their routine to take final exams and say goodbye to teachers they might never have again in their high school career. Final exams and Thanksgiving came and went and fall was over. As adults say time really is flying.

As the days grew shorter and the excitement of the school year had worn off, winter rolled around, bringing with it a season of basketball games and snow days. For many students, the winter trimester meant a lighter workload, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a rush to catch up on work when the number of snow days started to pile up as fast as the flakes outside. Sledding at the Bowl, hot chocolate in ZouZous, and getting excited for Winter Carnival were some of the many traditions that Chelsea students took part in over the winter, but the dreariness and grayness also gave life a monotonous tone as winter break came to an end and students began the long stretch that is January and February in Michigan. Ice days were a nice surprise, but for students with their drivers licenses, it could be a pain being told that they needed to stay home and not see their friends because the roads were too slippery. The power outages that came with ice days could also be intense. With many students losing power for over 24 hours, the storms this year were brutal, and when the weather forecast began to predict the first signs of spring, it was a welcome sight.

Spring brought many changes, from flowers, to rain, to new classes. The March and April months made up spring at Chelsea High School. March brought the anticipation of spring break, when students talked and talked about plans with friends, plans with family, and the memories they hoped to make as they traveled around the country, the world, or just stayed home for the break. As March came to an end, students began praying for summer break to arrive sooner. As April began, it brought anticipation for summer, and the first hints of Senioritis began to pop up. For seniors, April is their last full month of school where they are in the same place with their friends as they have been for the past four years. April hosted our Mini-Victrothon event, where students were able to come together for the first time since COVID and have fun dancing all night and listening to school bands. But April isn’t all about preparing for summer, it’s about preparing for AP Tests. The cramming for the first week of May set in during the last week of April as students began to stress and complain about their crazy jam-packed test week. 

As the school year drew to a close, the excitement of summer was in the air. With diseases like Senioritis in full swing, all anyone could think about was finishing their exams and getting out of the building. The pace of work decreased exponentially, and by the first week of June, students and teachers alike agreed that it was time for the year to be over. After the seniors left, the school took on a vacant feeling, but the voices of excited students and the excessive humidity from the non-working air conditioning still managed to fill the halls. Unlike in elementary school when the last days of school meant field day and Kindergarten graduation, the last week was a frantic time for high schoolers who were trying to prepare for exams and catch up on missing assignments. When the last bell rang and Mr. Angel went on the PA system to tell everyone to have a good summer, the halls were immediately filled with cheer.  The school year that seemed to drag on now felt as if it had gone by in a flash as students rushed to grab their backpacks and run out to the student lot.  Students paid no mind to the major traffic jam as they made plans with their friends to meet up over the summer.  

Although at some points the year seemed like it would never end, looking back, it certainly has been quite a blur.  Memories of fall football games and getting ready for homecoming seem like they were only yesterday, but now it’s time to start looking to the future.  As seniors prepare to head off to college in the fall, and as underclassmen begin to practice their “Back to Beach” cheer for the incoming freshmen class, it’s a hectic time at CHS, but the end of the school year is a good time to look back and realize how important it is to live in the moment. As they say, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”