Longmeadow High School - Masacksic Yearbook (Longmeadow, MA)

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Do the moon and the stars affect our lives? As- trologers say yes; the position of the heavenly bo- dies is directly related to our actions and emotions. Whether this is true or false, one thing goes un- questioned: space is the environment that we share with every other living being, and it must certainly affect us all in one way or another. Earth is a more limited environment, which makes its effects on us more obvious. We know that all life is dependent on the sun, and on the plants that grow from the soil. We are cold or hot depending on the state of the earth ' s atmosphere, and we regulate our activities accordingly. More specifically, we are affected by the environ- ment of our own town. During school days, we spend the greatest amount of time within the limits of Longmeadow, a small New England town. A common sentiment in this area is that a person growing up in Long- meadow is sheltered, and may not be in touch with the real world. It is true that subur- bia, our immediate environ- ment, provides us with a rela- tively quiet setting. The rates of crime and poverty are low here, as compared with the cities. A Longmeadowite who spends his days close to home and goes into the city only for shows and shopping malls is likely never to see in person goes on in the six o ' clock news stead of crumbling tenements high rise office buildings, we see quaint colonial houses or modern one- family homes. Grassy backyards with sprinklers going, lawn mowers and two-car garages — all are part of our Longmeadow environment. Does this mean that we are out of touch with the real world? We do not have to be. A city dweller can be just as naive as any suburban high school stu- dent, if he closes his eyes to all but his immediate environment. As scientists explore foreign planets in an effort to better understand the Universe, so must we explore environments differ- ent from our own, if only to improve our understanding of the people with whom we share our state, our country, and our planet.

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We enter at fourteen and immediately sense a change. Middle school, with all its chewing gum laws, one-way corridors, and four foot sixth-graders, is behind us at last. On we go to a world of elective courses, parking lots, towering upperclassmen, and passing-time chaos. Endless new experiences await us — once we can find our way around. We are high school freshmen. As is often the case with new thrills, they wear off quickly. It takes surprisingly little time for this huge, unknown environment to become totally familiar. It really is not so hard to find room 243, and maybe chewing gum is not the ultimate freedom. During our four years of high school, the LHS environment grows to include friends, sports, studying, artwork, clubs, competition, and testing. We begin to find areas where we can excel, and where we fall behind. We may be discouraged by competition or discover new potential. Junior year, so we hear, is the hardest. We may think that we worked hard as sophomores, but just wait! Along with all those courses put off from ninth and tenth grade, comes a series of all-important, Saturday morning tests. It starts with the PSAT ' s in the fall, and from there the list goes on and on. Oh, to be a senior! They have it made. Senior year. By now, for the old time native Longmeadow High Schooler, the building is like our fall-winter- spring home away from home. We know every graffiti mark on those old walls, and we have been through a large percentage of the faculty. We have swamped our poor guidance counselors with enough problems, schedule changes, and last-minute college applications to make ourselves remembered, and it is time once again to march on. We become more and more distracted as the year progresses, and by March, senioritis has set in for good. Thank you, Longmeadow High School. Thank you for letting us grow as adolescents within your walls, and for releasing us as hopeful young adults into the outside world.