All day, everyday at school our minds oru stimulated with noise, lights, and action all around us. 

WACK  a student slams their binder on their desk.  I jump.  My heart rate does the same.  As I slowly come out of the mindless trance I was in, another student drops their metal water bottle on the floor with a loud BAM. My head jerks to see the origin of the noise out of habit. I’m awake now.

The lunch room seems to drown out the talking and noise of everyone, but my ears still manage to pick out the clash of the garbage cans and trays, or the throwing of fruit across the room.  Even during class, as I diligently work, the bell will sneak up on me.  The kids packing up around me seem to be nonexistent, and the bell sends my body into immediate fight or flight mode.  I quickly pack up my things and hurry to my next class. 

The random clap of hands, the loud noise in a quiet class, phones dropping on the ground, chip bags popping. Though no one else seems to be bothered or notice, my body can't help but flinch.  As I look around to see if anyone else seems to be as surprised and concerned as me, I see nothing but a group of kids in the back corner causing some trouble and throwing things around.  Every once in a while I will lock eyes with someone startled as well—we simply laugh it off.

Though everyday these noises seem to keep me awake and alert.  I grow concerned when I don't hear the seven consecutive POP of chip bags opening in my third hour spanish class.  Or the loud THUD of metal weights dropping on the group in physics during labs.  I would miss the barking of my dog at 5 AM as she watches deer run through our yard, or the consistent chatter of my parents when they get up in the mornings.  The shatter of pottery and glass at the studio I work at has come to become an unpleasant sound.  Little ones running by shelves, pushing things off, yet these noises don’t seem to be the end of the world.  The noises that fill my day also somehow fuel my body.  Every once in a while I will drift off in class and one of these loud noises will wake me up.  In the end, they are kinda like alarm clocks— unpleasant, loud, but necessary to get going with your day.