By Linda Cheung, Samarth Jani, Morgan Oberwiler and Helee Shukla
As the Class of 2022 celebrates their final week of high school, seniors Michaela Cooney and Mia Miceli reminisce about a time when their Gladiator journey was just beginning. Now, the seniors are having a blast from the past after revisiting their time capsule and reflecting on the memories they made.
In May of 2017, they assembled a decorated shoebox containing a newspaper, a ticket from the NHP musical, a letter from their seventh grade selves and many more nostalgic items. As they searched through the box, their old souvenirs began to resurface. A Polaroid and a Photo booth strip from their sixth grade dance took them back to 2017 when dabbing was the hottest dance craze, and the newspaper article gave them a retrospective outlook on the current events of the time. The two reflected on quite a bit, briefly showing a shared shock at the steep rise in housing and food prices, but more so focused on how much their friendship had changed.
“The whole time I was so excited and nervous to see what was in it,” senior Michaela Cooney said.
A letter addressed to Mrs. Kaspar gave insight on how Cooney and Miceli’s friendship formed, revealing the pair had found each other in English class. Forging an inseparable bond, the two swore to be Kaspar’s student teachers, regardless of their friendship status senior year.
Source by Ms. Mary Kay Mannle
Seniors Mia Miceli and Michaela Cooney share their time capsule treasures.
Cooney and Miceli noticed they remained similar in many regards—from their hand sizes to their distinctive personalities. Placing their hands over the green and purple prints on the paper they exclaimed, acknowledging how perfectly their hands fit into the outline. Similarly, as they flipped through their musical tickets, school project and the YouTuber’s bandana, they were reminded of the number of interests they still share with one another.
After looking back on their heartfelt keepsakes, the girls started to reflect on their high school experience. While they were excited to start a new chapter of their life, they found themselves conflicted about their time at New Hyde Park Memorial coming to an end.
“I felt so nostalgic and a little sad because it’s crazy how fast time moves. You don’t realize it until you're in your last week of high school,” Cooney said.
“It’s bittersweet, that’s the only way to describe it,” Mia Miceli said.
Beating the odds, Cooney and Miceli have remained friends through their senior year and were fortunate enough to get closer over time. Experiencing the nostalgia the capsule brought her, Cooney urges seventh graders to follow in her footsteps and leave themselves future mementos.
“My advice would be to make a time capsule because you never know what you’re going to find in there,” Cooney said.