“Dude this chicken sandwich sucks,” I would think to myself as I scarfed down that dry piece of mystery chicken. Those aluminum wrapped chicken sandwiches would be the main thing I ate throughout all 3 years of high school, and yes I mean three. Covid certainly left an unforgettable stain on my high school life and completely blocked off potential memories made my junior year, but we all know that by now. 

I’m here to talk about all the memories made outside of Zoom calls and quarantine.

First day of freshman year I remember walking onto campus and thinking to myself, “This place is huge.” Little did I know that the magnitude of Selma High would soon become less intimidating and I would be able to call it a second home. At times it may have felt like a prison but I’m grateful for it nonetheless. 

High School was a place where I was able to work on finding  myself and get some bearing on who I want to be in the future. A major component in the creation of my character has to be the people I was around during lunch. Remember those chicken sandwiches I mentioned earlier? It was because of those lukewarm lunches that I met the people I still consider my friends to this day. Those sandwiches which were handed out in the little brick building by the gym led me to the small lawn in between three trees right next to the building. I hung out there almost every day at lunch from my freshman to senior year. It was in between those three trees where my friends and I came up with the stupidest jokes, had mock interviews about their opinions on foods, held pep rallies about intramural sports, and booed, clapped and cheered loud enough for the entirety of campus to join in for no particular reason at all. 

That lawn in between those three trees became a hub for everything surrounding this group of 20+ boys and will forever be engraved in both my mind and heart. 

High School was the place where I laughed with my best friends, got my first girlfriend, crammed for AP exams, and ate those shabby chicken sandwiches. In a way my high school life turned out this way because of those sandwiches, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about them. I’m grateful for the way everything turned out and the path I’m currently on.

 Goodbye Selma High, I’ll be sure to tell San Luis Obispo all about you in the fall. 

Hopefully their chicken sandwiches aren’t any better than yours.