“I have lots of friends, because there are so many rats at Irvington! It’s so nice to have such a well connected and large extended family in such close proximity. 

And new rats join us all the time, every day you can meet a new rat starting to explore the maze of Irvington High. A lot of rats also come over from Horner Junior High, it’s another campus pretty close by to Irvington. The baby rats there are always eager to learn the Irvington ways from us older and more experienced rats. Navigating Irvington can be hard, but knowing who to talk to and where to look is very important, and that’s why forming a network of rats can be so useful while you are here. 

When I first came to Irvington, I joined DECA, because I think it’s a club that really caters to who I am. The DECA totem pole is my future home, I can smell it already, and a lot of my brothers and sisters have made their homes there before. It’s the perfect place for a rat to be. There’s a lot of cheese if you know where to look, and they really let you explore your identity in the club, and sharpen your senses. I’m really glad they created a club for rats like me. 

My favorite classroom to be in is We The People APUSH, because it really is where the most rats come together in any one classroom at Irvington. We have a diverse group of rats in that class with different interests, but we all come together and sharpen our skills of being sneaky and networking with other rats in that class. 

My friends all call me King-finesser, because Mr. Denies can never catch me with my cheese plate. Or while my buddies and I cooperate on his quizzes. I have a keen sense of smell, I know where the cheese is, and I can smell snakes from a mile away. I usually avoid Ballado, Ip, and Chung, because that’s where the majority of the snakes usually are. But sometimes you have to be careful, because the snakes around here know how to camouflage. You have to look at their extra credit stats projects to tell if they are a snake or not. 

The most exciting part of the day is lunch, of course! That’s when I get to sniff around campus for the juiciest spots of campus drama, and figure out where the cheese is.  There are so many food options available in the cafeteria, and the pavilion has a nice selection as well. But lunch is also where I get to link up with the rats coming out of the senior hallway, or hit up Bronco Billy’s for some cheesy goodness. 

Irvington is such a great home for me, and really provides everything a rat needs to flourish, and move on to do bigger things in life. It’s challenging at times, but I know that our environment has sharpened my skills, so when I go onto other places, I won’t have any trouble finding the cheese.”