Avoiding the Death Wall can be an adventure
Gazebo Photo by Cate Eddlemon
Helen Pope hugs the Death Wall
The “Death Wall” is something familiar to many Stratford students, referring to the spikey, cement walls in the halls of Stratford.
The school’s “ancient myth and legend” regularly convince freshmen to be wary of contact with upperclassmen in the hallways in fear of being slammed into the frightening wall.
Often contact with the wall is caused by the crowded hallways and students rushing to pass through the travelling herds.
Occasionally, a few unlucky freshmen begin high school with a sibling or friend in 11th or 12th grade who jokingly push the new high schooler into the piercing wall.
Senior Maggie McCullough was one of those unfortunate freshmen while her sister was a senior. She tells a story from when she was pushed into the wall. One afternoon between classes, after the crowds had died down, Maggie was headed to English class and happened to pass her senior sister and friends.
As she was passing the seniors, she was slammed into to death wall. The meaningly harmless joke will be a never forgetful memory for Maggie. Maggie will forever be a living survivor of the famous Death Wall.
Although many fights with the death wall are caused by older siblings, a few debacles break out between playful friends, and in this specific story, freshmen friends.
Mary Spencer Reeves and Shorter McCook, both freshmen, were headed out of room 128 one day and once out of sight from any teachers, Mary Spencer shoved Shorter into the wall to get revenge.
The previous week, Mary Spencer got in trouble for having for spilling a drink in study hall. Mary Spencer claimed that Shorter knocked the drink out of her hand. Mary had been waiting for the perfect moment of revenge. That perfect moment came a week later when they were leaving study hall and Mary decided to “accidently” push Shorter into the death wall.
Shorter will forever be a survivor of the Death Wall.
Personally, I have only had a few painful experiences with the Death Wall. I am not one with good balance so I tend to accidentally trip up my footing sometimes. A few times while falling, I have brushed the wall and even skinned my elbow.
Hopefully, I will be able to avoid anymore interactions with the Death Wall for the rest of my highschool career.
Sophomore Helen Pope has been a part of the Gazebo staff for two years and is a staff writer. She has been attending Stratford for 12 years, beginning...
Cate Eddlemon is a Sophomore and has spent both years of high school on the Gazebo Staff as a Staff Writer. She has been at Stratford for 10 years and...
