When the bell rings at 2:50 (2:11 on Mondays and Fridays), students at DePaul College Prep run to their lockers, grab their bags and leave school as fast as possible. The Commons empties out and leaves a few who will stick around much longer. Some faces appear day after day, while for some it’s a one-off occurrence. What are these students waiting for?
Could it be the endless pep rallies, choir performances, college nights and football games? Or is it something more mundane?
Looking around the Commons, it’s easy to assume that only student athletes wait after school, getting ready for practice. Although that’s true that they do, they’re not the only students that linger. According to Adriana Fernandez, a security guard at DePaul Prep, “the art kids” stay at school late too. This group usually can be found on the couch next to the security desk by the north entrance. She says that the last people leave the Commons at 7 p.m.
Senior Sheila Bourke isn’t a student athlete, but participates in NCHS, AAPI, Cup of Joe, among other activities. She says she “often, but not always” is waiting for transportation home since she is “forbidden from ubering.” Although she could take the bus, she prefers to spend time with her friends in the Commons. For Bourke, the Commons is “easy and accessible” since her friends, ability to order DoorDash and power outlets are in a central place.
In the Commons, there’s never a moment where it’s completely silent. Besides the low grade chatter at all times, there are instruments that accompany it. Bourke said, “sometimes I’ll borrow a ukulele from the music room and bring it over [to the Commons].”
One student athlete, senior Eduado Igelsias, is in the Commons “daily” after school, waiting for wrestling and volleyball (when in season) or other clubs he’s in. Igelaisas chooses the Commons over other places in the school because of one thing, “I like being social” he says. He has a bus he could take, but chooses to stay at school: “I like waiting until one of my friends can drive me home.”
The Commons is also the site of acrobatic tricks. Yes, it’s true. According to Fernandez, there’s always “students doing cartwheels.”
She said, “I told one to knock it off but then he didn’t and he fell.” Usually it’s freshmen and seniors that perform these acrobatic tricks. It’s not just limited to cartwheels, though. Iglesias adds, “I saw someone do the splits.”
It is the one space that all DePaul Prep students have in common, central to the east and west wings. The students who spend their time there appreciate it for this very reason: there’s always people there to talk to. It’s the true third space of DePaul College Prep.
