I graduated from Greenwood High today. It’s been only 5 hours since I came out but I already miss it. I know we’re going to go back for our hall tickets and our boards but my school life is over. I have learnt and experienced so much in these last ten years in Greenwood High. I wish I could show you a recording of all my memories, but sadly that technology does not exist. Yet. But what I can do is walk you through my journey in this institution. So let’s hop into a time machine and go back. Back to the beginning.

It’s May 2nd 2011, my parents sent me for the Greenwood High Summer Camp to ‘get used to the school’. I walk to my gate and sit in the bus. It’s been 10 years so I don’t really remember how I felt when I first entered the school. But I don’t think I would have imagined that this would be my home for the next ten years of my life.

Fast-forward a month and I’m in the car with my new friend Anish, it’s my first day of school! I was so excited! I eagerly went and sat in class. My class teacher, her name was Nidhi Ma’am, made our seating arrangements. I looked around my class and saw the faces. Little did I know that some of these people would be my friends even in 12th grade. Our sports captain, Yash, former School Vice-Captain Himank, Cultural Secretary Sanjana. They were all just new faces to me. Third grade was an interesting experience. I remember I discovered my talent for writing when I won the Creative Writing competition. My asthma wasn’t as bad back then so I was able to win the singing competition as well. I loved being on stage, I loved being clapped for and today I felt the same way as I did 10 years ago getting up on that stage to an audience cheering me on. To cap it all off, in the end of the year, I got both the academic excellence and general proficiency awards from my class and my dad was so proud when he came to the annual day to see me collect these on stage.

Next was fourth grade, I started being a little more confident in fourth grade. I discovered that I could actually make people laugh. And not one or two of my friends around me but the entire class. On my last day of class, I made sure that I ended the year by making everyone laugh again one last time. My proud moment of the year was being cast as Suppandi in the Children’s Day assembly. Now instead of making my class laugh, I made the entire school laugh. D’Mello Sir said that my acting was splendid in front of the entire school. Nothing made me happier.

Fifth grade, I met so many more of the people I’d call my friends today. I discovered my love for History through my Social Studies teacher Kavita Ma’am. I discovered a new-found love for writing under my English teacher Taashi Ma’am. I discovered my love for programming under Jane Ma’am (who I was terrified of at the time). This was the grade when my ‘paper games’ with titles like Bluemonkey and Monsterland were the centre of attention in any free period we got in class.

In sixth grade, I met and became friends with a whole new gang of people. Until now I had usually been paired with students of French Second Language (I was in Kannada, more on that in a bit), but for the first time, I was paired with Hindi Second Language students and this was a whole new group of people that I had to refamiliarize myself with. But I have very very fond memories of sixth grade. This was the year where we started getting ‘corrupted’. I remember we used to make fun of boys by saying that some girl is their ‘girlfriend’ and the boy would be so embarrassed. It’s all a part of growing up and we would have never reached maturity if we never had a transitional phase like that. It was also in 6th standard, that Suresh Sir, my Kannada teacher, taught me for the first time. He was someone who was very influential in my development as a student and as a human being and this journey began in sixth standard.

7th grade was probably my favorite year at Greenwood High. Our class, 7F, was incredibly well-bonded. Everyone used to talk to each other and there was a real sense of family and togetherness in our class. Every single person felt comfortable talking to the other and there are so many memories I have of this grade. From Albert Newton to all of us crying on the last day to The Weekly Catalogue, I’ll always remember this period so fondly. All of our teachers were incredibly sweet and made the entire experience so much better.

Eighth grade is probably the most bizarre year in my time at Greenwood High. It’s almost as if they took all the mischievous students and put them in one class. We had every infamous student in our class and we created a living for any poor teacher assigned to teaching us. Whether it was creating fictional babies that we had to take care of to get out of doing bio homework or seeing some try to paint the wall white using a tiny paintbrush after accidentally spilling paint. We caused havoc and so much trouble but through it all there was a camaraderie. This was also my first time venturing into the world of quizzing. Suresh Sir had made a very nurturing learning environment in our Kannada classes by never sticking to the subject material and expanding our knowledge of the world around us constantly and I made sure I absorbed every single fact or off-hand comment that he made because it made me more knowledgeable and I was able to use what he said not only in things like quizzes but also to make my conversations so much more mature and informed.

And then we made our way into high school, ninth grade was such a beautiful year. I learnt so much as a person about how to handle failure as I wanted nothing more than to be nominated for a student council position but things did not pan out as I had hoped. Our friendships matured and there was an extra layer now that was never there before as we entered high school. So many things like trust, loyalty and endurance were tested. Friendships and bonds made in this early stage of high school persevere in a much different way than ones formed later do. Computer classes under Jane Ma’am were probably my favourite memories of this year as I would stay up late in the night finishing my computers record so that everyone in my class could copy it the next day. I remember I would get competitive with my friends about who could finish programs the fastest or who could help the most people. It was also the year that I went for my first inter-school quiz and I started to pave my way into the quiz team.

Tenth grade was the big year. It was the boards year. But so much more happened that year. I went through things that I had never had to go through before and it really tested my strength of character. But tenth grade also marked a period of development and bonding. I gave my most memorable speech in this year for the debate competition and I will never forget the standing ovation and cheers I received after delivering it. I will never forget coming third place in the Karnataka State Quiz Competition, something I use to flex even to this day. There was the memorable Coorg trip that we embarked upon which was such a fun time and allowed us to have moments of bonding and friendship that would endure the test of time. And finally when we did write boards, there was an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia because we knew that this would probably be the last time we saw many of these people and that turned out to be true. I haven’t met people who I used to consider my best friends in 10th grade since the boards ended.

Eleventh grade was a completely different experience than my previous 8 years in Greenwood High. It felt almost as if I had joined a different school. So many new faces and so many new stories. We had the new school adaptation period that so many new kids so often do even though a lot of us had been in the school for longer than they hadn’t at that point. It was amazing how well the old and the new mixed together to form a new family and a new sense of bonding. Discussions about college and the future became more common and the nature of our lives changed. We got the new student council, who are some of the most deserving and hard-working people in our school. The hardest part of this year for me was saying bye to the seniors that had meant so much to me. They had taken care of us, mentored us and imparting their wisdom to us and to let go of that was something really difficult. And then, abruptly, the pandemic hit and our lives came to a stop.

I don’t think I can explain this year better than Arohi did in her Valedictorian’s address, which you can watch here, so I’m not going to try. What I will say is that coming back to school on the 8th of March was one of the happiest moments of my entire life. The joy and nostalgia I felt coming back, I’ve never felt that way in my life.

What was the point of all this? Why did I painstakingly tell you my journey through this school? I am who I am because of Greenwood High. When I came her I was a nobody, but Greenwood High made me Arnav. I have learnt everything I know except for the basics in this school. I have learnt how to be a better person, how to forgive, how to grow, how to admit and learn from your mistake, how to inspire, how to lead and how to follow. In my years in the bus, I made some incredible bonds with juniors who I had to part with. With people who actually look up to me. Yes, ME. I can’t imagine that but I’m glad. I’m glad that I’m able to influence people. I’m glad that when people hear my name they feel like cheering. I am going to miss Greenwood High so much. This was my school, my home and it’ll always be where I came from. As I lifted my cap and threw into the sky, I thought about my last ten years and whether I’d change anything but even though there’s a lot I regret. I am who I am because of my experiences and Greenwood High has been the most rewarding, nurturing and surreal experience I could have asked for. And now that it’s over, one statement rings true in my head. To Greenwood High, we all belong. Forever and always.

Hotel? Trivago.

Arnav out.