There is no doubt that our current educational facilities at Liberty are less desirable than those at Skyline and Issaquah at the moment. There was never any question about how the quality and size of the buildings at Liberty compared to the rest of the Issaquah School District. Yet, in my three years at Liberty I have realized its character is built just as much from what it doesn’t have.

   Imagine walking the halls of Issaquah; you see familiar faces but that is all they are – faces. You don’t know who they are or what they are like and probably never will. You don’t have any classes with them and the similarity you share is your relative location. They are just one of the nearly two thousand other people that you see and to them, you are just a nameless face.

   Now, think about a day at Liberty. Our senior class has just over 250 people, most of which are known to each other. Walking through the halls, you don’t see just familiar faces. You see people you know and interact with.

   The lack of the size of Skyline and Issaquah is one thing that I am extremely thankful for. At Issaquah, one is hard pressed to name most people in their grade. At Liberty, I am able to name almost all peers as well as most of those above and below me. I wonder how much more fragmented Liberty would be if it was doubled in size and am thankful that this is not the case. Forget having a huge school. I would much rather be part of a tight-knit family.