Everyone knows that sophomores can be overconfident in their knowledge, immature, and juvenile. It’s the time in your high school life where you’re not considered a little freshman anymore but instead an older more mature individual because of your ranking. Rather than being a positive role model to younger classmates, I was instead a sophomoric sophomore at the Dunn School. Every school has that thick, binded handbook with pages filled with boring bolded black writing explaining each and every school rule that one must abide by. Somehow I managed to violate all; from minor rules to major rules and everywhere in between.
Dress code is the most frequent rule one can violate. There wasn’t one day where I didn’t have to have my arms straight down my sides to make sure the length of my dress was long enough or that I had to go back to my room to put on a sweater over my 2. 5 inch straps that had to be 3. Rule 1: Dress code and I never got along. This is where it all began. PDA, in other words, public display of affection. Rule number two: broken and as a result, conduct warning. Dating my ex boyfriend for several months of the school year, I always had to be cautious of who was around me, or in my case, not so cautious.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only student who showed affection towards their boyfriend or girlfriend. I’m not so sure many can say they’ve had awkward encounters when their L. S teacher and tutor followed them into the Boys Day Lounge. Every couple wants to be alone, but when you’re a student at the Dunn School there’s no such thing. I thought the barn, Senior Lounge, Boy’s Day Lounge, Loy Lounge, and the field could be a way to escape from constantly being watched by teachers waiting for me to screw up again. It got to the point where my ex and I were not even allowed to sit next to each other under the same roof.
I felt trapped, not only for that reason, but in general. Furthermore, I was always getting my phone taken away for something insignificant, like answering my mom’s phone call 4 feet away from lower campus or getting campused for not signing out correctly. I felt like I was going to have an emotional breakdown at any minute. I had to leave somehow, and at one point I was campused not for two weeks but for a month. That’s when my friend Kelly Whelan and I decided to escape from the Dunn School for at least a couple of hours. Rule three: broken.
We decided to jump into a friend’s car and roam around the valley until we had to come back just in time for check-in. It felt like a good idea at the time, but looking back I know we shouldn’t of have put our positions at Dunn on the line like that; however, we didn’t think twice at the moment. There was no other way out. Luckily, I somehow got away with that. Being campused for a month, not only did I feel like there was no way out, but also I was constantly bored. Everyday was the same old routine. No excitement whatsoever took place at the Dunn School.
So I had to somehow create my own “fun. ” I enjoyed smoking marijuana from time to time, but I never would of thought of myself to be smoking cigarettes. Unfortunately, I started to do the one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t. Smoking Violation: Rule number 4, broken. It was around 2 am in Loy dorm; everything was silent in the hallways. I slowly snuck down to room number 4, where my very good friend Audrey lived. When we were together, we were reckless. We couldn’t have cared less about the big bold words in the Caution red handbook that Ms.
Judycki made us read over and over again in the beginning of the year. We thought that we could get away with anything; however, we were proven wrong when all of a sudden we saw a flash of light reflect of our faces coming from outside. The window was propped open at the moment and we were smoking Audrey’s Camel Blues. I immediately ducked and sprinted out of her room to mine as fast as possible. The rest of the night I couldn’t fall asleep, instead I laid there thinking about what will happen when I would inevitably hear Ms. Childs call my name at assembly the next day.
I didn’t sleep much that night. A letter was sent home, and I had to walk ten campus loops in a certain amount of time. Campus loops were not too much of a punishment to me. The letter home was much worst. My parents weren’t too thrilled with me that Christmas break. Last March, I was already on final conduct warning for my many talks with teachers about dress code violations, PDA with my boyfriend at the time, and my smoking violation. I was having chats with Mr. Holmes and Childs regularly about my behavior, but I just didn’t seem to care.
I just missed being with my best friends since elementary school, my home and my family. When I was here, I felt like I was grounded constantly. Then the weekend after spring break, things started to sound exciting when Amanda brought a bottle of vodka from home to the Dunn community; obviously she didn’t consider that she was violating a major school rule. Rule 5: broken. Once she told Audrey, Kelsey, and I about the alcohol, we all decided it would be fun to take shots in the room and then run around like hooligans to pass time.
It was around 7pm, and we were taking shots by the minute. Needless to say, some of us got a little out of control. Two of the girls were causing a scene in the lounge, another got sick, and I was in my room on the phone having a drunken conversation with a friend from home. All of a sudden I heard the OD’s walkie-talkie constantly repeating our names. I didn’t think too much at the moment; however, I knew it wasn’t good. Suddenly Mr. Bowden busted the door open and took me to the boring, boxy, white rooms along the side of the Earwig Café.
There I found, Audrey, Kelsey, and Amanda all bawling. I knew it would have just made the whole situation worse if I started to break down too, so instead I kept my head up and tried to act as mature as I could. Little did I know, that in the meantime they strip-searched my room, finding weed at the bottom of my purse and paraphernalia. The next day was filled with tears, packing up my belongings, saying good-bye to close friends, and dealing with my parents yelling at me for the five-hour car drive home. I thought my life at Dunn was over.
Surprisingly, three days later, the school called me and we had a very long chat about whether or not I should still attend. Although I was getting in trouble for my actions almost every day, something inside me just didn’t care. However, that seemed to change after getting almost expelled from my school. I knew I had to change the way I presented myself and acted. I couldn’t be this rebellious sophomore anymore, but instead needed to make better decisions. Last year, was a mess, but part of me doesn’t regret a thing.
I went through such a dramatic year losing three of my closest friends due to what I immaturely perceived to be a little fun, but what clearly represented bad judgment. I also lost two other close friends because they simply weren’t happy here, but I still managed to keep my head up. I was the only one that was accepted back and was given another chance to shape up. It wasn’t easy dealing with my suspension during the week I was suspended. I had multiple phone calls with the headmaster, I had to meet with a therapist to determine whether or not I had an addictive personality, and worst of all I saw how disappointed my parents were in me.
I’m so thankful I was given another chance to do it right this time and set an example to other kids to. The series of events, I went through last year were truly an eye opener, if it didn’t happen the way it did, I’d still probably be getting into trouble this day. I’m not proud that I’ve been on every status in the student handbook; however, I’m proud to say that I’ve made my way from Final Probation to not getting called in once this year. I’m happy to say that I’m not that the sophomoric sophomore anymore.
