The school I went to from Kindergarten to 6th grade is shutting down. So I finally decided to step inside the building one last time, for the first time, in years.
After all this time, the things that stuck most with me still remained the same while so many things had changed. And out of all of my former teachers, only one still teaches there. Sadly not for long.
It’s madness to think that everything is so small when they were once so big back then.
I didn’t have many friends then, just the teachers who cared and wanted to see the best in me. And I think that’s what made coming back to this place so surreal despite the kids I grew up with only became close acquaintances.
The principal met me and handed me a pin with the school mascot on it, a puffin. “Once a puffin, always a puffin” she said, and I almost broke.
I’m glad that I came back here, even if it was too late. I hope that the last generation of students who will leave this place become the best people they can be.
