Every day we come into school, we are provided with so much more than our education; this space serves us as essentially a second home and the time spent within these walls will make up a substantial portion of our teenage years. On the most basic level, students have much to be thankful for. We could use a reminder of this. From sterilized classrooms to SmartBoards to the ice cream machine, 1712 Randolph is, in so many ways, a great place to spend this time.

Unfortunately, the people at the forefront of the living, breathing, being experience of the SPA campus are both underappreciated and treated poorly in the sense that we can’t seem to stop making and leaving messes. Paper towels on the bathroom floor, dishes left unattended at tables, and common spaces littered with wrappers, crumbs and half-eaten snacks.

This message is not new. It’s time to get our act together and stop being childish and disrespectful, regardless of if “you’re not the problem.” It takes accountability and initiative from everyone to shift culture. People know the tangible steps toward creating a cleaner school, but that’s not the point. Attitude is the issue.

Yes, it’s about being polite and considering the impacts of our actions on others, but it’s also about recognizing privilege and showing gratitude. SPA students live in a world of immense privilege. For all that we have, we complain incessantly. There is so much to be thankful for and so many people to thank, so let’s replace complaining with thankfulness.

Don’t complain about the removal of snack— be thankful we once had it, knowing most schools don’t. Students can take the steps towards getting it back, but it will be difficult because we must earn back trust. Snack is a privilege, not a right, and it would do well for us to understand that about more things at this school. Plus, the snack budget has been redistributed into the $100 advisory budget; now that’s privilege.

Sure, you can say if a lunch isn’t your favorite, but recognize the work that went into that meal and that our lunches are amazing compared to what others get. Be thankful we have a school lunch, and for the great variety of delicious and nourishing foods that the kitchen staff provides us with every day.

See what goes unseen— the cleaners who come in after school to make everything look brand new by the next morning, the security guards who stay late into the evening to make sure we are safe, the mechanists who literally keep our building running and the groundskeepers who keep our campus beautiful and our parking lots cleared on snowy mornings. The list goes on.

These staff are the heartbeat of SPA. They do a truly incredible job of creating a livable, thriving second home in which we can feel safe and supported.

So let’s show gratitude. Through our words and our actions, let’s be appreciative and kind. Do your best to come back from Spring Break recharged and with a new resolve to live with all of our privileges in the most respectful way possible. It’s time to spring clean our attitudes and our campus. It’s time for a refresh.