My Day At School
Something’s Happening At East. Again.
by Madeleine Senger
For the GPHN
I was in my world history class when it happened. It appeared to be a normal day for me. I walked into the building, went to math, then world history, where I had a test. It happened yet again: lockdown.
Since this has been a common occurrence all year, we figured that there was probably something wrong on Colfax. But as we texted more with friends, we started to worry that something was happening inside the school. Again.
Our class huddled in the corner, some of us crying, others numb. One common denominator was the texting, to our friends, to our parents: What happened? We had just experienced the death of one of our own Angels, Luis Garcia. Shot just outside our school while he sat in his car. We had just buried him – and now this was happening. Again.
I could hear sirens and helicopters overhead. I was getting texts with photos outside of ambulances and police gathered. I knew that this was real. There was a point when my teacher told us to blockade the door with chairs, and that was when I got really scared. I texted my mom and she tried to soothe me, writing, “The fact that it’s all locked and police are there is scary, but also a sign that it’s safer.”
In moments like this, we’re wary of our surroundings and of who we can trust. But after hearing the same information from multiple texts from friends, I started to believe that the threat was indeed coming from inside the school. I soon found out that two of our deans had been shot. Two deans, one who I’ve met many times before and another I know from his presence in the halls. Deans who do their job every day, protecting students, had been shot. At my school.
Unlike when Luis Garcia was shot, this happened inside our school. A place where students come to learn and are supposed to feel safe, but it’s starting to feel the opposite these days. We’re scared about what will happen next, we seek out places to hide in case of yet again, another lockdown. And yet with all this, we’re still expected to learn. Again.
After it was safe to come out of hiding, we went back to our chairs. A deep sense of dread was starting to push down on my chest: Is everyone okay? Are the deans alright? Are they in serious condition? Are they going to survive?
My teacher put on the news and I could see that parents were outside the school protesting and that the entire city was focused on our school. Now we were focused on getting out of the school. It felt like an eternity waiting in the class for the officials to let us out, room by room. As I walked through the halls I saw the sullen faces of teachers and the administration. The students around me looked dazed.
When I got outside, and finally saw my mom waiting among the parents, she burst into tears. Again.
How many more shootings need to happen before things change? How many years? How many lives?
Will it happen? Again.
Madeleine Senger is a sophomore at East. She is a pianist in the school’s Jazz Combo, was pianist for East’s musical Chicago this spring, and plays varsity tennis.