By Alejandro Cea
Ashley Mendez is a sophomore at Rialto High School and she describes the main reasons that one is late in the morning including a funny mishap that caused her to be late one day.
Mendez genuinely enjoys going to school here and explains that she loves coming to Rialto High School to see her friends and enjoys the atmosphere that her nice teachers create in their classrooms. While Mendez genuinely enjoys coming to school, that doesn’t mean that she comes on time every day, or comes at all.
Sometimes, Mendez needs a break from the constant chaos that school brings. This chaos includes having to talk to people or become extroverted in general. Instead, Mendez feels the need to take breaks and stay home from school so she can “do her own thing with no one around.” Of course, we can’t blame her, everyone wants to stay home once in a while.
Mendez goes on to say that she can do her homework at home and still keep a healthy state of mind.
If Mendez is not missing school to nourish her mental health, she is probably tardy to school, as many students usually are.
Mendez states many reasons as to why students are late, which are all pretty valid; students are either eating, getting dressed, or it is due to their ride/carpool situation. Mendez feels that is the main reason and the most uncontrollable reason that students are tardy in the morning.
In fact, the main reason why Mendez herself is late in the morning is because whenever her friend is late, she will also be late. One time, Mendez was late for a reason that she would have never expected. To put it frankly, Mendez states, “My cat threw up.” While waiting for her friend to pick her up one school morning, Mendez’s cat threw up. On. Her. Bed.
Mendez was devastated and had to take time out of her morning to clean it up and make sure that the cat was okay. Mendez laughs today about it but she was not laughing while cleaning up that throw-up off her bed.
Besides that, Mendez is not usually late throughout the day and if she is it is because her classes are spread far out and it can be hard to ask a quick question after class, use the restroom, and get to class all under six minutes.
And for those reasons, Mendez states some things that the school can do to decrease tardiness and get students to class quicker. During tardy sweeps, Mendez suggests more lines to get people a tardy sweep pass. She says there is no reason to be making her 10 minutes more late than she would have been if there hadn’t been a tardy sweep. Either that or it's extending the passing period.
Mendez does admit that she is late every day. This is something that she has been struggling with since around the end of her freshman year. When Mendez is late, she is usually pretty late. She states, “If I’m gonna be late, might as well be late, or barely show up.”
Mendez does add some tips to aid people who may be struggling with keeping an early schedule. Mendez reminds people to set their alarms and even change the sound of the alarm as it is something you subconsciously remember to turn off.