“It’s a great day to be dane, have a great dane day!” These are the words that start our every morning. We rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and the announcements, ending with these words from Mrs. Oliver. Most may not think much of it, standing just to participate and zoning out, not actually grasping what is being said. Little do they know, the events of their day further prove why each day is a great day to be a dane. 

I walked in through those theater lobby doors on August 4th, 2022, my spirits floating high above the clouds because I was so ecstatic to finally be a highschooler. I look around to see the people I’ve been in school with since elementary and middle school. Then, I see a plethora of people I don’t know. People with their own lives and their own circle. Today was the day I first heard, “It’s a great day to be a dane!” and it genuinely sunk into me. This is who I would be for the next four years of my life, I would be a dane. 

Each class brought its memories and moments to look forward to. Spanish, during second period, was where the majority of the class would bond over stories of our teacher’s adorable son. We feasted over the cultural foods brought in and laughed over the competition and inside jokes we created playing GimKit. Fourth period was journalism and that was an unforgettable experience. Sure, we wrote articles, took photos, and made videos, that’s a major aspect of the class, obviously. We also laughed at the conversations that filled the room, we bonded over watching the FIFA world cup, we totally did not force everyone in the class to listen to Taylor Swift, and we tried to bring clarity to a fellow classmate who had an unhealthy obsession with hoarding plastic forks. Each day was a new experience, bringing us together and making it a great and exciting day to be a part of the dane community. 

For the first time, I tried participating in a sport to represent our school. I joined cross country, having never run before, to see if it would be something interesting. It ended up being one of the most influential decisions I have ever made in my life. Every practice, the team would work together to push ourselves and build towards breaking more personal records. We became close, practically inseparable and representing Denmark at races. We placed, earned medals, and looked forward to going to practices and meets every single day.  That season was the reason I went on to do track and currently plan to continue to run the rest of my high school career. Coming to school, I feel pumped knowing that I am part of something that I care so deeply about, making the day so much more meaningful and memorable. 

Sometimes, there would be things that occurred that had absolutely zero correlation with my classes or activities. For example, today we were handed out fortune cookies during lunch. These were no ordinary fortune cookies. They had different conversation starters on the little paper sheets inside of them instead of a “fortune”. It was new, and it was exciting to figure out the origin of the cookies. Turns out they were passed out by an organization called Whisper, a movement to improve student relationships and inspire conversation. This is starting to get implemented due to individuals in Denmark wanting to care for their students. We never anticipated talking to the actual founder of Whisper (this was while I was planning to take a photo of the students passing out the cookies). This activity brought the students together, when no one realized it. This added an element of surprise to the day, making my day a whole lot more greater and enthralling.

There was so much more that I did that made the days feel exhilarating. I was part of clubs, chorus and theater. I found myself waking up in the morning, stressed about the tests and quizzes I would have to take, but anticipating the exciting memories got me through the day. Feeling this excitement, this urge to come to school, while somewhat dreading the assignments, makes it a great day to be a dane.