Val Ortega

While fighting the constant effects of school air, junior Paulinka Zagata uses a quick mirror break in the bathroom to retouch her makeup.

Makeup freshly applied, hair newly curled, and my confidence is radiating. But as soon as my first period is over, I grab my phone from the phone pocket and boom: frizz, pimples, and my mascara running. Can you ever seem to beat school air?

I’ve noticed during my time at Metea that the air is an issue I have consistently had to battle. Whether it was the influx of pimples in the first week of school or the instant fallout of my beautifully curled hair, the air is something I can’t seem to beat. Trust me, I have tried it all: intense amounts of setting spray, light makeup, heavy makeup, hair spraying my hair, updos, and even ponytails. Something just always seems to go wrong. 

Now I know this is something I am not alone in facing. Countless numbers of my peers have all discussed the horrible impacts that school air can have on their overall confidence. It’s such a peculiar feeling having to deal with a specific kind of air that basically changes the way you look for six hours of the day. 

Now, when talking about this with some of my friends, I started to notice differing opinions. 

“I do not believe in school air because I believe it is [a] mindset and it is perceived that way based on what others say,” junior Connor Lobos said. “To me, I always feel the worst [in the morning] and throughout the day I gradually feel better.”

Now Lobos’s opinion is an unpopular one, but a very important one, to say the least. Is this ugliness we all feel throughout the school day all in our heads? I strongly don’t think so. Our school has so many germs and recycled air, so the reason I continue to break out throughout the school year is because of the air. The reason my hair frizzes up: the air. The reason my makeup disintegrates, you know the answer to it: the school air!

Overall, maybe the air is not that bad, and we are all overexaggerating how we really feel. Or maybe school air is the most evil air particle ever, and it’s time we stand up against it. I’m choosing the second option, and you should too.