Week One: Walking into the new classrooms shocks me and takes my breath away. We have new, tall, clean, magnificent, desks with footrests and backpack hooks. We no longer have to endure the pain of last year’s old, squeaky, short desks covered in scribbles. The excitement overwhelms me even more than a gleaming new car overjoys a sophomore on her sixteenth birthday. Week Five: Little pencil marks have appeared on our glorious desks, but with a quick glance, they still hold the same marvelous beauty. Only on closer inspection can imperfections be discovered: incoherent smudges that look suspiciously like a face. But the marks can be overlooked and the offenders forgiven because they were made unintentionally – right? Week Ten: Walking into classrooms has become a new horror that must be faced four times every day. The once proud, tall desks slump under the weight of the crimes committed against them, and the torture inflicted upon these poor structures is difficult to witness. Crude handwriting has worn grooves into the desks and it is impossible to touch the desks without coming away with scars of dark, smudged hands. We might as well never get new desks again if this is the treatment they receive. Have some respect for your new school property, Patriots, and keep our wonderful desks looking nice.