As little freshmen, we used to wander around the halls, with a piece of crumpled paper on our hands, trying to find the right class and enough courage to walk into that class to introduce ourselves. Now, we are wondering where the time flew. It feels like 4 years went by in a blink of an eye. The New Dealer reached out to the 2022 Top Ten about their favorite FDR memories!

Joshua Siganur

Although my and many of my classmates’ high school experience is one I doubt we will ever forget (thank you COVID), that does not mean it didn’t have its brighter, more positive memorable moments. My favorite memory at FDR has got to be a bot battle we partook in during freshman year of our robotics class. We started out by learning how to program, then we moved onto building our robots, and later programming them to do simple things like follow lines. But we didn’t know what all this was leading up to, until one day when Mr. Pereira told us that our robots would be battling each other! When the day of the battle finally arrived, we flipped our tables on their sides to form an arena (that way the bots couldn’t escape and cause devastating damage to the school), and we gently lowered the bots into it. My group and Connor (our bot) had our doubts, but we were in it for the fun rather than the spoils of victory. Fast forward to the last two dueling bots, one of which was Connor. Little did we know it, we would go home that day having beaten our enemy into submission using a little move I had come up with- where Connor spins endlessly in circles, perplexing his opponent and pushing them away if they get too close. I look back on those times with fond memories, as they have forever found a place in my heart, as have the number of people I am proud to call my dear friends. Thank you FDR.

Shirin Khasanova

My favorite memory from FDR was probably the Regents week prep during freshman year. I remember it was not fun, coming to school on Saturdays as a freshman to sit through hours of review, but when I made friends in each class, and saw my friends after, I was genuinely happy. This brings me so much nostalgia, because I know that I won’t ever be as young as I used to anymore. I won’t ever be able to “regent” prep myself. From here on I know life will be difficult, and I will have to study and work ten times harder. On that note, thank you for all FDR has given our seniors, starting with knowledge and ending with great unforgettable memories. Special congrats to our Top Ten students! You guys deserve an extra congratulations for all your hard work for these past 4 years! Wishing good luck to every single person graduating in #2022, but especially to our cougar seniors! We did it guys! We’ve endured lots of things over these 4 years, had lots of ups and downs, but we did it anyway! We are graduating, now we can’t call freshies, freshies, since we also will be freshman in college next year; well most of us. Those who aren’t going college, good luck with whatever plans you have after high school, whether it’s a trade school, or joining the US military. Thank you FDR for everything… 

Li Na Jiang

Looking back and reflecting on my four years at FDR,  It’s hard to pinpoint a particular moment that I enjoyed most during my time here. The Senior Decisions Day Carnival is one memory I cherish. The picture-perfect day delivered some sort of normalcy during the pandemic. It had compensated for the loss of a year and a half of in-person learning for me and many other graduating seniors. Seeing friends and acquaintances alongside hearing the news of the colleges they committed to left me incredibly proud and elated for what we have accomplished and what we will accomplish. Can’t forget the procrastinated homework assignments and the perpetuating cycles of stress that led us to that moment. These are the times I will never forget. From trivia nights to spontaneous after-school trips with friends to fighting for my life to be on the Kahoot! podium during class, the list goes on. To say I had the best time at FDR is an understatement.

Hao Chen

When I think about my favorite FDR memories, there are too many of them to choose from, but there is one that stands out in my darkest time. COVID was a chain that restrained my movement, and then the SATs, along with college applications, were like dogs with rabies barking at me nonstop. These caused a lot of anxiety in me, but I was always able to find peace with myself in my English class with Mr. Meyers. Mr. Meyers is magical, I would say, he is so energetic all the time, although I know he is a busy man. However, he never looks tired. The most magical thing about Mr. Meyers is his energy spreads to students around him, like me. Music, humor, and interesting contents are Mr. Meyer’s three weapons. Whenever SATs, or college applications barked at me, he swung these weapons to make the dogs back off. SAT and college applications were very important, but being able to have a place to be at peace with myself means a lot to me. This is why my favorite memory in FDR is taking Mr. Meyers’ English class.

Matthew Grubin

My favorite memory at FDR, was confusing my close friend’s name with another person I met, before I met my friend, at lunch. The confusion lasted for a couple of weeks. Despite that, my friend became one of the most impactful people in my life and motivated me every day to work harder than the day before. Another favorite memory of mine was reviewing for AP Statistics with my close friends. Telling each other that one day all the hard work and hours we put in will pay off!

Barakat Jooda

My favorite memory at FDR would be volunteering at the school’s library. As someone who really enjoys reading, and just being around books, my best time at FDR has been at the library; whether that be browsing through the shelves for books, sitting and doing homework, or helping the librarians out. As classes can be a lot, I have really enjoyed going to the library during my free time, whenever, I could or after my school day is done. I have really enjoyed helping students out with whatever library help they needed, and also generally doing library work like cataloguing books, and more.

Zhenghao Lin

I loved doing the egg challenge in Physics with Ms. Baba, where we had to make a landing pad out of 10 pieces of paper. Our group’s egg survived from a 20 centimeter fall!

Mohammed Ali

There were countless memories in high school which I hold close to me. That being the case if I had to pick one of these memories to be my favorite it would be the time when we integrated from remote learning to in person learning. After nearly 2 years of remote learning it felt like I was a freshman going into a new school. The commute from home to school and back, and being able to enjoy time with friends in and outside of school, really allowed me to come out of Covid-19 and be part of the real world again. Although it was more difficult to come to school in person, it was something that was needed, as it showed me some progress in getting over this virus that has been inflicting us over the past few years.  Not only was it easier for me to focus while in school, the staff and teachers during this time did a great job making sure everyone was safe and were learning properly. Overall, being able to overcome COVID-19 step-by-step, and being able to come to school in person, was some of the best experiences in my high school years.

Good Luck Top Ten! We will miss you!