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I attended Thomas A. Edison CTE High School in Queens, NY. And, I am grateful for the experiences I had in high school that shaped me into becoming who I am today. In fact, I think I learned a lot about myself during this period. But, for the most part my high school cafeteria was so chaotic, loud, overcrowded, and disorganized-like most areas of Queens. There were so many things going on at the same time, so I hardly went to the cafeteria. I spent most of my lunch period walking around the school building with a friend because the cafeteria was so dreary and dreadful. It was also so disorganized and filthy; If you didn’t watch where you were walking, you would probably step on food or milk. It was really contaminated and unhygienic. It was painted dark blue and there were hardly any windows. It was like we were trapped in a prison. In totality, the high school cafeteria had a turbulent ambience.

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I went to Maspeth High School. Most people with their friend groups sat at the circle tables while the people who didn't have as many friends would sit more by themselves at the rectangle tables. The cafeteria was used divided into two parts but they both had the same layout. On the left side most people were the cultured and diverse people while the other side had the white people. Our school was mostly divided because the north side of school was very diverse while the south wasn't and the school landed right in the middle. 

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I went to Maspeth High School. Most people with their friend groups sat at the circle tables while the people who didn't have as many friends would sit more by themselves at the rectangle tables. The cafeteria was used divided into two parts but they both had the same layout. On the left side most people were the cultured and diverse people while the other side had the white people. Our school was mostly divided because the north side of school was very diverse while the south wasn't and the school landed right in the middle. 

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I went to Mineola High School. This school is a smaller school in Nassau County. The way lunch was set up in my school was it was a closed campus unless you were a senior. This meant that unless you were a senior you were not aloud to leave the school to get lunch. Even though kids snuck through the side doors where the camera was broken all the time me even being one of them every now and then. With that being said our school had a relatively small lunch room with most of the seniors going out for lunch. the lunch room would be filled with underclassmen. The way the tables were set up you mostly sat with your friend group and everyone kinda knew that. Once you had that table in the beginning of the year that was basically your table for the whole year and it was an unspoken rule. The worst was when you didn't have lunch with your friends like my junior year I had none of my friends so I basically sat by myself all year and that was terrible. You also had other options then eat in the lunch room. You could do things like go to the library or other classes to do your work. I was lucky enough for my football coach to be working out while I was eating lunch so me and some of my teammates would go lift instead which I thought to be more productive. I would say that the more crowded tables in the lunch room would be considered the "popular kids" table. This was because everyone wanted to hang out with them so they thought sitting next to them would make them more popular which I think isn't the smartest idea. I think the idea of kids who are "popular" getting these kids to sit next to them and basically do whatever they are told is kinda lame. I don't understand why kids did this and I thought they were just wasting there time. I liked being more productive with my time at lunch.

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I went to Long Beach High School. My high school was very big and so was our lunchroom. There was 339 kids in our grade and almost the same amount in each grade so the lunch room had to be big. I couldn't draw that but I basically summarized what was in the lunchroom. My school was mainly windows on the outside and the lunchroom was facing the bay side of Long Beach so sometimes we had a nice view of the water while eating. on each side of the lunchroom there were long tables but in the center of the lunchroom were circle tables. On the other side of the lunch room was where they served lunch and in the center by the round tables was the snack shack. Our school was very diverse with a mix of races and ethnicities. There were definitely separate groups present in the lunch but nobody was really excluded. Usually the big crowds of people would sit in the center at the round tables or the back long tables. It was always loud in the lunch room because there were so many conversations going on. Some people often went to the library to hang out instead of being in the lunch room because it was more quiet. I didn't mind lunch because every year I luckily had lunch with my group of friends.

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I went to Benjamin N Cardozo HS, one of the most known schools in Queens for being the most crowded, with over 4,000 students. The hallway you’d enter to get to the cafeteria was named 42 street because of how crowded it would get. In this map I illustrated the exact layout of the cafeteria and included all entries/exits as well the tables, etc. During my high school career, the cafeteria was always super crowded and from time to time a fight would break out and the entire cafeteria would huddle around in a clump just to watch. One year, a kid brought a baseball bat and completely destroyed the vending machine and after that we weren’t allowed to go in the cafe for a few days. The cafe was a place I hated going to alone and would only enter if I knew my friends would be there. One thing that I did like was the atmosphere whenever there was a bake sale. Usually sports/clubs did bake sales for funding purposes, they’d play music and bring good vibes.  The cafe was the place to be at if you wanted to just chill and hangout or play cards with your friends. Card playing is actually how I met most of my friends.

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I went to MacArthur High School and up until you were a senior, you had to stay on campus during your lunch period. The bigger cafeteria was where everyone wanted to be, and the smaller one was less occupied and had a silent quiet room to get homework done there as well. I used my portrait of Cafeteria A because this is where there was more diversity regarding our student population. For the most part, students within their own grades sat with one another, and we had assigned seats so our lunch monitors would take attendance. We were able to choose our seats at the beginning of the year and then after the first week, we had to stay there, or let the monitors know if we moved our seat.

In the picture above, the tables in the back left corner were always the most packed, and it was always the juniors that got those tables. It was almost tradition for the highest grade to have it since it was the furthest away from the monitors. Other than that, the cafeteria was very diverse, there were different sorts of groups but everyone pretty much intermingled with one another. I wouldn't say anyone was ever excluded, everyone always had someone to sit with.

For the most part, people who played sports together sat with one another. Or, if you had friends that you didn't see often, people normally sat with them.

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I went to Stuyvesant High School. Cafeteria was always loud and in disarray. Lots of seats, tables and people. My high school experience was not that great. The school was crowded all the time. The hallways were pretty tight, and the stairways were always full in between classes. We had escalators which were constantly broken. The school was really big with a huge student population. It definitely was not a school for me, someone who prefers to be in smaller groups.

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I attended Archbishop Molloy High School our cafeteria was used for students to sit in before school started, free periods, and eat with your grade

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This drawing represents the full blue print of my high school cafeteria. Starting from the front there are entries connected from the hallway on the first floor to get into the cafeteria. In the middle between the entries is called the Lion's Den. This den is for the teacher assistants to sit, do work, and also gives space for the dean and principle to sit and talk to the teacher assistants as well. After school the security guards sit in the Lion's Den to look at the cameras and watch out for the people hanging out there after school. From the front where you walk in, to your right is where you walk into the kitchen. The kitchen is bigger than a classroom, there are refrigerators for drinks, freezers for desserts, and separate stands for sandwiches, pizza, burgers, chicken, and fries. After a student gets all their needs they walk up to the register and pay out their food with their student ID or cash/credit card and then go to their seat. The tables were huge and took up the whole cafeteria. There weren't any chairs because the benches were attached to the tables. There were at least 18 rows of tables in the cafeteria and it was able to fill up a whole grade of 400 students or more. When it comes to seating no one sits in the first couple rows due to no one wanting to sit by the teacher assistants or deans. Smartest kids were all friends and sit near the front while most of the girls and boys who were considered class clowns sit in the middle area and most of the athletes sat towards the back. Lunch time was 50 min long and 45 minutes in we would be sent outside to take a walk into the building. Lunch was a fun time to talk to friends, relieve stress, joke around, and maybe not get caught throwing food across the cafeteria. Personally my lunch experience in high school was where I made my closest friends and had some of my best memories.

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I went to a small high school with a graduating class of 200 students. My cafeteria was fairly small and wasn’t usually busy. Many students spent their lunch in the library as there was a lot of technology such as a VR system and games. When the weather permits many people also opted for the courtyard. Seniors had a senior lounge. The cafeteria was still undoubtedly loud however. The cafeteria would usually be filled with underclassmen and few juniors. Seniors were almost never seen sitting in the cafeteria. The senior lounge connected to the cafeteria. The lounge had multiple couches, a TV, an Xbox, a ping pong table, elevated tables, and regular tables. About 20 students were always in the senior lounge during lunch periods. The cafeteria was not a big deal in my school because most people opted for different seating arrangements. In my freshman year I sat in the cafeteria. In my sophomore and junior year I sat in the library and in my senior year I hung out in the senior lounge. The senior lounge was always rowdy because people were always in some sort of tournament whether it be the Xbox or ping pong. We were all really competitive when it came to ping pong so it was always a fun time in the lounge. The walls to the lounge were all glass windows so everyone can see inside. I remember people looking over because the lounge always looked like something was going on and got really loud most days. Social status wasn’t determined by the group people sat with. Obviously friend groups sat with each other but nobody acted differently depending on where they chose to sit or judged others based off of it.  Also seniors had senior privileges so they were allowed to go out to eat as well.  Overall, the cafeteria didn’t have much significance because so many students either had lunch lessons, went to the lounge, chose the courtyard, or chose the library.

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I went to Herricks High School and my cafeteria was newly renovated after my freshman year. The new renovations included two sides of the cafeteria, one dedicated to hot lunch and one dedicated to sandwiches and salads. lining each of the lunch lines were high top booths with high top tables and chairs. Along the opposite wall were regular booths with tables and chairs. In between, were round tables with chairs. In the center of both sides of the cafeteria was a semi circle counter where snack and the cashiers were found. The same staff members were always at the salad/ sandwich bar, the hot lunch line and the cash register. The same students often sat together in the same table every day, and the same teachers held extra help at the same time at the same table each day as well. We are clearly creatures of habit, but it saddens me a little bit to realize that I didn't branch out enough in high school and dare to break the continuous comfortable patterns. However, these patterns and these individuals shaped my high school experience and I am still thankful for that.

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I went to Clarke High School in Westbury. My drawing shows the set up of my high school's cafeteria. There wasn't much to it. There were the standard long tables and circle tables, lunch lines, and vending machines. Anyone could sit at the long and circle tables but the last two long tables towards the exit doors were known for being the table of the popular/sports players. It was known that those two tables were where they all sat. I don't know why it was like that but it was for my entire high school years. The cafeteria wasn't too big so it always was packed, especially during 4th and 5th periods. I remember how loud the cafeteria always was and how it was one of my favorite periods of the day to get together with my friends. I had some great conversations during lunch in that cafeteria hahaha. Lunch periods were always looked forward to because everyone got together with their friends. Honestly, yes there were some people who were "popular" but for the most part the students at my high school weren't fixated on that. Really people were friendly with everyone and it was shown during lunch time. In our cafeteria we had 3 small couches. We all jokingly called them the "convo couches" because we would all have such deep and real conversations their. I miss those couches even though they were kind of gross. Just the memories of so many voices and being with my friends made that cafeteria extra special to me

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In my high school, there wasn't much of an organization of who sat where or how the tables were arranged. Every day the positions of the tables changed. The cafeteria was typically only filled with freshmen and sophomores since the juniors and seniors were allowed to go out for lunch. It was not common for juniors and seniors to go in the cafeteria during their lunch period. The kitchen was quite small and sat at the top of the cafeteria and had two entrances from the sitting area in the cafeteria. One side was the hot side and one side was the cold side. On the right side of the cafeteria was the doors to go to the outside sitting area which was almost never used. A lot of students that went out there would be kicked back inside. There was always two teachers to watch over the lunch periods, different teachers per period. They always occupied the very first table when you walk into the cafeteria. Any kids that were misbehaving had to sit there as well. The cafeteria had more length than it did width, but overall it was a decent size considering it was a small school with not a large number of students.

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I went to Baldwin High School, we had two cafeterias and open campus for all, so there were always seats and it was never really busy, especially during the 

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The cafeteria in this picture was the bigger one that most people gravitated towards. I only ever sat here during sophomore year when I was super social but other than that I sat in the smaller cafeteria where nobody really was.

The tables with the most people were usually filled with underclassmen, they weren't popular or anything though. I don't think my school really separated based on popularity in the cafeteria. There were definitely popular people who had more status but that didn't matter at lunch.

Bullying did not happen much at school and fights only happened after school where everybody was in the same spot. The big circle outside of my school was where it was super crowded and where people would gather.

I would say the cafeterias were very spacious and allowed for a very calm environment when people were quiet. Sometimes people would be obnoxious but that's just high schoolers!

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In this map I recreated my high school cafeteria. In the image I just drew out one side of my cafeteria since it was so big. When it came to our lunch periods, each grade would have lunch with their grade so juniors would have lunch with juniors, seniors with seniors and so on. Right outside of the cafeteria, there would be a few vending machines. Once you walked into the cafeteria, there would be a huge open space with one table where one of the assistant principals and lunch aides would sit to keep an eye on everyone. On the left side of the cafeteria which I sketched out, there was a huge wall of windows with booths in front of it. Then there were a few round tables which would always be very crowded full of students who were always fooling around and being loud. In the mix of loudness there was one or two tables that consisted of mostly quiet students. These tables were definitely not as crowded as the other tables. This side of the cafeteria was extremely loud and many students would constantly be either running around, throwing food or play fighting with their friends. The worst part about this was that these students never got in trouble because they had close relationships with deans, teachers, and assistant principals. This was obviously not fair at all. On the right side of the cafeteria which I did not sketch out it seemed like it was a different world completely. There was fewer people sitting on that side and it was more quiet. All of the tables seemed to be more quiet than the other side of the cafeteria. I would say that everyone could sense a divide in who the "cool kids" were based on who sat where and what side of the cafeteria they sat on. The left side of the cafeteria was definitely the popular side where students with big friend groups sat and acted up for the period. During our lunch periods many of the quiet students would decide to go to the library so that they would not need to sit in a crazy and loud environment which is most likely not the most comfortable environment for everyone. I think that this environment was very overwhelming at times because it got so crazy and the "popular kids" would tend to take over what happened in the cafeteria. I believe that the setup of cafeterias needs to become more inclusive for everyone because not everyone is having a positive experience and that is not fair.

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I went to Plainedge High School. When students were juniors and seniors, they were able to leave for their lunch period. This is based off of my early years. 

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When we were sophomores and freshmen, everyone in our grade had to eat lunch in the cafeteria. It was not really an environment that was very visibly exclusive, rather people just simply sat with their friends. The only divisibility in this environment was that people sat with their specific friend groups and no one seemed to have any issues with this. The authority figures were the lunch aides which were typically teachers or sub teachers. The students did not typically pay attention to said teachers unless there were any issues. One thing I remember being bothersome was that you were not allowed to leave the cafeteria unless you had to use the bathroom. The lack of freedom from the cafeteria left students feeling stuck. I know, from my personal experience, that once I was able to leave school for lunch, I did not go back to eating in the cafeteria due to that feeling. Also, we had an outdoor area with lunch tables that students could eat at, but most students did not use this area because it was basically part of the parking lot, all it had was a fence around it.

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At my high school there was two different sides of the cafeteria. The left side or "A" was the bigger side. It was louder and the more outgoing people would sit there. Also, mostly older students would sit on that side. Towards the back of the "A" side is where the  more popular people would sit and towards the front is where the younger students would sit towards the front. The "B" side was the smaller and more quiet side. There was only about 15 students who sat there. Some of the students sat alone and some has small groups to sit with. If you ever got in trouble for acting up in the "A" side then you would get sent to the "B" side. The "B" side was considered the "worse" side by the students because more of the less outgoing people would sit there. Seniors were allowed to leave the school for lunch so most of the cafeteria was filled with 9th through 11th graders. The two sides were very separated. I feel that schools should have one lunch room. Some students may think they are better or worse than other because of where they sat at lunch and that shouldn't be right.

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This is kind of sloppy I know, and I apologize. I did a quick sketch in my notebook of my high school cafeteria. Before moving down to Long Island, I actually went to high school in CT. my high school was called Bunnell High School, which was a big public school in the Bridgeport area. The cafeteria was very big and was always very packed. Lunch and passing in between classes was the time where you realized the school is too small for the capacity of students that it has.

The way that our cafeteria was set up was in two sides. There was a major walk way in the beginning that began the lunch line to the kitchens and snack vendors in the front of the cafeteria. On each side of the walk way were sets of tables where students were able to sit. Usually on the left side as you walk in, that's typically where the upper classmen sat, where on the right side that's where the underclassmen sat. You were allowed to sit wherever you wanted regardless of class or grade. There were 4 different lunch shifts and you were placed in a lunch shift depending on what class you have 5th period. All lunch shifts have classes with all four grades in it, so its a matter of if you get lucky to have the same lunch shift with your friends. it's all random though.

An interesting thing that I remember is the table set up, and who sat where. Each table had a certain label, or group of students that sat there. Typically the long rectangular table where the , popular upperclassman, athlete/jocks sat at , along with the popular/most attractive upperclassman girls. Typically there was a table where the normal, half popular kids sat at( AKA Me), as well as your theater, quiet , and hw doing kids. Teachers were always posted near the doors to make sure, nobody was sneaking in shifts, and making sure no fights broke out.

My experience, with the cafeteria was very fun. That was the point in the day that I looked forward to the most. I liked it because sometimes I would go to the lunch room, sometimes I would stay in class for lunch, or sometimes I would do lunch in the library. When the weather got nice we also had an outdoor courtyard that the seniors were allowed to have lunch at. I looked forward to lunch because that was the time that I was able to see everybody and not have to worry about doing work, or classes. I liked the cafeteria because, since I knew a lot of people it gave me the opportunity to not be subject to just my table , but to go around and talk to everybody that I knew. A lot of my funniest memories and crying of laughter came at lunch and at these cafeteria tables.

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I went to Half Hollow Hills High School East. My school was huge and close campus. The cafeteria in my school was the hot spot where everyone hung out and there was 2 of them. The cafeterias were called Cafeteria A and Cafeteria B. In between the cafeterias was the kitchen. In the kitchen there was a couple of different options for students to eat, from what was for lunch that day to sandwich bar to salad bar to snack bar. In these cafeteria there was certain students that sat in the each cafeteria. Cafeteria A was the bigger cafeteria out of the 2. The type of students that sat in Cafeteria A was were the cooler kids sat. In cafeteria B was the type of students who cared about their school work would go. Cafeteria A was a lot louder than cafeteria B. The sitting placement in these 2 cafeterias weren't based on what grades the students were in. I love when I had lunch time in high school because I got to hangout with my friends and catch up with them. When I was a freshmen, going into the cafeterias were extremely overwhelming because once you pick that table; that was the table you sat in for the rest of the year. I saw people get bullied in the cafeteria because whether they sat in the wrong cafeteria or someone sat in someone else seat.

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I went to Mepham High School. As a freshman and sophomore, we were obligated to stay in the cafeteria, but junior and senior year we were able to come and go as we wished. This was nice junior and senior year because there were a couple restaurants down the block including a pizza place and a Greek restaurant, and by senior year everyone also had a car or a friend with a car so we could go get whatever food we wanted during lunch.

In the drawing I created, I illustrated one of the two cafeterias we had in the building (this one was called the West Cafeteria), and this one was also much more densely populated during lunch hours and off periods. Although this cafeteria wasn’t nearly as nice as my middle school one (which had paintings of sea animals on one end and jungle animals on another), it was still on the nicer side with blue-green walls, and new vending machines.

Unfortunately, during the middle of my freshman year I experienced a conflict in my friend group that was so traumatizing that I felt completely unwelcome at my original lunch table. Because I had no one else to sit with, I would usually end up going to the library to sit at a computer, eat, and get work done. There was one positive in this: I was able to focus heavily on academics and get great grades in math and science classes that I previously had trouble with during that year. By the end of freshman year and beginning of sophomore year, I found the most amazing group of friends and felt once again welcomed at a new table. I felt at ease and confident sitting with people who had vibrant energy around them and because we always had so much fun sitting together lunch often flew by.

In the cafeteria itself, there weren’t distinctions or stereotypes that separated people like it’s portrayed in movies and tv shows; there wasn’t a popular group, or a jocks group, or nerds, or anything. There weren’t food fights or bullying scenes. There were just groups of people from all different backgrounds and social cliques sitting together and having a great time. I loved this about my school because it ultimately created a compassionate and colorful environment in which students felt safe and respected no matter what “group” they may have belonged to. I just marked the tables with various different “groups” because everyone in the cafeteria excelled in one of the following: academics, arts, athletics, music, etc

In my opinion, students shouldn’t be so heavily monitored or feel confined to one specific space when it comes to lunch periods. Lunch periods are students’ free time, and it is supposed to feel like a break or a breather between classes in which students can unwind and forget about all of the stress of their other classes. However, because students could only go to the library or cafeteria during their lunch period if they were a freshman or sophomore, these two places would be packed and students couldn’t always enjoy themselves. I never understood how freshman and sophomores couldn’t go out but suddenly when you’re a junior you can. What is the difference? Surely if you are in high school and you are expected to handle the responsibility of classes, you should be trusted to be responsible enough to leave the school building and come back.

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In the map, I recreated my high school cafeterias. The cafeteria on the left was 'Cafeteria A' and the one of the right was 'Cafeteria B'. From the start of entering high school you quickly came to realize which cafeteria you wanted to be associated with. Different friend groups would migrate to either cafe A or cafe B. Typically all the 'jocks', seniors, and the more outgoing people would stick to cafeteria A. The more quiet and reserved people hung out in cafeteria B. Unfortunately, many people looked down upon cafeteria B and made fun of the people who sat in there. If you were "cool" you hung out in cafeteria A. Many times if you didn't have lunch with your friends, kids would be seen going to the library because they didn't want to sit alone. Many kids would go to the outside area or try to leave school if they didn't have friends to sit with. If you weren't a senior you weren't allowed off campus, so you were stuck. I was a three sport athlete and most of my friends hung out in cafeteria A, so that's where I wanted to be. I remember an instance where I sat in a spot I didn't normally sit because some of my friends were at the table. I ended up sitting in this girl's seat and she stood next to me for awhile telling me to get up. She never liked me, and I don't know why. I told her I was sitting here so she should find another seat. She then started repeatedly calling me derogatory names, all because I was sitting in 'her' seat. This is an event that happened 11 years ago, and unfortunately it still resonates in my head. I'm sure she thought she was being cool or funny in front of her friends, but it ultimately made her look mean and embarrassed me. This part about high school is unsettling. Having designated cafeteria's or designated lunch tables is segregation. Many kids feel left out and lonely or run the risk of being bullied.

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I went to Island Trees High School. This school has a small population and it ran a closed-style campus. The cafeteria has a basic, plain setup.

In the sketch presented above. There is an exact copy of this room on the other side of the kitchen. One portion was meant for juniors and seniors. The other section was frosh/soph. My senior year I did not have lunch because I could not fit it in my schedule so I did not eat. This reflects my junior year. The overpopulated tables were mostly the popular students with the big friend groups. One was filled with seniors the others were juniors. The other tables were mostly just scattered small groups of seniors/juniors. The senior lounge was a small room with a couch. It had a Tv and a wii for seniors to play with. It also had a foosball table and some bean bags. Even with a closed campus-style setup, the lunchroom was not really too crowded. Students had the option to go to the computer room, and library if they desired. If the students got permission, they would be able to go to other classrooms for extra help or to do work. I would usually go to the art room to catch up on work. When I had lunch, it was fun because I got lucky to be placed in the same periods with my friends. The volume of the lunchroom was at a medium volume. The setup of the cafeteria was most likely very simple since at the time I was there, they barely updated the school since like the 60's.

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I went to Massapequa High School, our school allowed students to leave campus and walk to restaurants/lunch places so our cafeteria was hardly ever busy 

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In the drawing I created, I represented 1/2 of our cafeteria. this section of the cafeteria was usually where lunch was held (for those who stayed in). The "sandwich station" had another section that separated the two cafeterias and would usually have a moveable wall up so students didn't go on the other side. If the cafeteria was busy then the other side would hold the students with lunch detention, if it was not busy they would be placed in the normal cafeteria. Our school had an amazing idea of letting students go off campus for lunch and then once the lunch period was over we would wait outside to go back inside. I personally really loved this because it allowed me an hour or so out of the building and some freedom to have something more than just cafeteria food (even though it was good). In my senior year I spent more time in the library with my friends because we were usually overwhelmed with school work and our lunch break was a great time to catch up a little. I would say my friends and I made it a 50/50 between outside and library. I've always been lucky enough to have a few friends in my lunch period so I could always go out with them or I could stay in and work on homework. I felt our school was never the typical "cafeteria" where students would deny seats or students were rude to one another, due to 80% of the students in a lunch period going out, allowed open seating and it was usually pretty quiet so everyone who would stay in kept to themselves. Overall, my experience with lunch periods have been positive and I'm glad my school allowed students to leave campus because being stuck in a cafeteria with hundreds of students can be overwhelming and difficult to do just about anything- In middle and elementary school our cafeterias were very crowded and it was such a relieving feeling to get out of the building and feel a little bit more independent.

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I went to Francis Lewis Highschool, which was one of the most packed Highschool in the area. The Lunch room was always SO packed. 

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Map of my high school Cafeteria: below I connected three entries, expand to read :))

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Map of my high school Cafeteria: below I connected three entries, expand to read :))

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In this map, it shows that the lunch room held a lot of people. It also shows some of the general areas that were sectioned off by a group of people. Growing up and having lunch time, no one wanted to be that person that sat by themselves at the end of a lunch room table. For my Senior year, I didn't have anyone in my friend group during my lunch periods, so I would normally go to the library. The problem with the library is that once it is full to capacity they will not allow anymore people in and send you straight downstairs to the cafeteria. It was not allowed for people to roam around the halls during their free period. This often left people to run to the library for a seat ( including me ), because it was so much better than the idea of sitting by yourself for an entire lunch period. I do feel that lunch can be a very scary place for people who are by themselves and find it harder to make friends in such an area where cliques are very visible.

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Lastly, this area was commonly known by the students as the "strip". In between classes you would see students against the windows coming together and talking on their way to class. There would also be deans walking around clearing the area trying their best to eliminate the people staying around. The problem here is that this rule NEVER applied to everyone. There was always a group of kids that were close to the deans and were allowed to stay and roam in this hall way and chat with the deans. But for example, I was finished with school and I stayed in the strip to talk to one of my friends and was asked to get out of the strip, meanwhile the dean was allowing their "favorites" to stay.

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One of the pretty cool things that my high school 'DID" do, was host our International Festival. The international festival consisted of cultural dances from various cultures around the world from the Desi club, Korean club, flamenco, Spanish club etc. It was such a fun time for students to show their culture, but also watch and learn about others. I was even able to find the link of the international festival that I participated in during 2017. Although Highschool is typically made up of different groups of people, this was a time where everyone can come together and spread unity through culture.