Inside the Senior Compound

Europe, c. 400 AD, saw vast hordes of migrating Germanic people, our ancestors, invade and sack the Western Romans. Next, the Britons, c. 900 AD, were invaded by Vikings hailing from Scandinavia. Then, the Native Americans, c. 1600 AD, were invaded by the English, the very descendants of the convoluted mix of Vikings and Britons. Finally, in Irving, c. 1970, the rising senior class invaded the senior hallway for the first time, expelling its former residents, the class of ’70.

Following in the footsteps of their predecessors, it became a tradition for the rising senior class of Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, Texas, to invade and expel the graduating senior class from the senior hallway. So, in the year 2020, it was time for the senior class of 2021 to follow the path laid out by its forefathers: to leave the classrooms inhabited by Forms I through VII with their charming little cubbies, nostalgic hallways, and oddly slanted roofs, and migrate down the stairs, as is ancient custom, to the senior classrooms to carry out the expulsion.

However, something happened then that the fates did not intend. The class of 2021 was disallowed this privilege by the most aggravating reason imaginable:
COVID-19. The virus prevented the class’s naturally decreed mass migration. So, left without a home, the class of 2021 wandered around campus in search of a new classroom space.

And search they did, far and wide, until they found it: the library, home of the occasional middle school reader and the frequent high schooler trying to write an entire essay for Mr. Saliga during ten-minute break. It became the Promised Land for Senior-kind. Under the shrewd leadership of their beloved Form Master, Fr. Lawrence, and our valiant student body president, Michael Wilson (’21), Form VIII triumphantly conquered the library, and officially dubbed it the Senior Compound.

Work had to be done to make this place a home. First, the Library was divided into two sections. One became the Library’s Classroom—not to be confused with the Library Classroom—and the other became a comfortable lounge area used for intense gaming. The Library’s Classroom has twenty-three desks and four white boards along with a multi-thousand-dollar Microsoft Surface Hub to serve as a replacement for a projector, though the teachers have yet to extensively use this elegant and expensive piece of technology. Also, Fr. Lawrence has moved into his new den, known formerly as Mr. Graham’s office. And of course, the ping pong table is now found at the entrance of the library.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Photo Credit: Ayden Kowalski

David Cox ('21) provides a soundtrack for lunch.

Now, many have asked about entering to behold the majesty and grandeur of the Senior Compound. I will say only what I have been told. Admittance into the Senior Compound is restricted to an elite group of people. The only requirement for students to enter is as follows: be a senior.

The senior class has adapted well to its new habitat. Although they do not have conventional classrooms or any room to store their books, and the seats in the library classroom are inexplicably far more uncomfortable than the typical Cistercian desk, the senior class is happy with its new residence.