In the Field House, the Marching Band is playing songs that bring high spirits, the students cheer on the athletes as they’re given their moment of fame, and the Seniors look at their last Homecoming Pep Assembly, wanting it to be the best one ever.

It is their last one and they want it to be special, something spectacular, amazing and something that will make them remembered.

The freshmen are called in the Field House, but they cheer very little. Next, the sophomores are called and they cheer louder. The juniors scream at the top of their lungs as their class is called. Finally, with great anticipation, the seniors are called. They explode with cheer, and at that same time a huge explosion of baby powder filters through the air.

The cloud of powder soared up and then down into the stands as spectators looked at amazement. Yet for some students, it was not so stunning.

The baby powder rained down on everything. It was in people’s hair and their clothes. It got on people’s backpacks. (The leadership kids probably had a hard time cleaning it off the bleachers). And finally, as it floated back to the stands, the seniors breathed it in, and all they could do was cough it out of their air ways.

To me, this even has many negative factors. I have asthma, something I’m sure students didn’t think about when they decided to use this cool but dangerous effect.

I inhaled so much talcum powder that it caused me to not be able to breathe.

My inhaler wasn’t able to work properly because of so much baby powder. I passed out and was carried into the Hall of Fame, where I waited for the paramedics.

Thanks to the fresh air I caught my breath. My lungs unclogged themselves, but facing a near-death experience was not the way I wanted to spend my Homecoming Pep Assembly. It will always be the worst Homecoming memory for me.

Leadership teacher Kathy Olgeirsson agreed the stunt was a mistake.

“The kids believed it was just a harmless prank,” she said. “But talcum powder is dangerous for anyone to inhale. It looked cool and fun, but if I was in the stands I would’ve been choking.”

The incident caused me to miss the rest of the pep assembly, the parade, and the Homecoming game where my best friend was crowned king. I am 100-percent better, but I feel like I was robbed of most of my homecoming. I feel like I was the expense of other people’s good time.

It’s my senior year and I wasn’t able to see my last Homecoming parade and game. That’s what hurts the most.

Band Director Paul Schreiber had similar feelings, “My first reaction was, that’s a cool effect, and I didn’t think much of it,” he said. “My second reaction after I saw you choking was that I needed to get you some help.”

When all was said and done, three empty bottles were found.

Olgeirsson said in disapproval, “At first I said Oh my gosh, I thought someone had lit a smoke bomb.”

Reflecting on it now, I ask the question Why? Why couldn’t people come together and just discuss the consequences of what could happen?

It hurts that I was forgotten and it was cool and all. Sitting there coughing and not having my inhaler work because of the thickness of the baby powder terrified me.

All of this could have been prevented if people had just thought of the consequences of their actions.

“I think it was something that didn’t need to happen and in the end it caused a pretty big mess,” Schreiber said.

Hopefully in the future, students will think about the messes they make before throw they ruin someone else’s experience.