By Olivia Ritter ’17

Does it bother you that we weren’t provided with agendas this year? I’m finding myself more and more troubled when it comes to figuring out what I have for homework.

Agendas are an institution. All throughout elementary school, middle school, and (most of) my years of high school, I was given a fresh agenda. It was complete with all of the bare necessities that a 5th grader might need: a world map, every area formula ever and, of course, the trusty conversion chart.

I could sure use all of those things right about now. Without a provided agenda, how will I know how to convert grams into liters or whatever crazy dimensional analysis I need for AP Environmental Science? How will I know how to find the area and perimeter of any given triangle? Without an agenda, I’m left with nothing.

We’ve barely made a dent in the year and I have forgotten an unhealthy amount of assignments. This problem has only one cause: no agenda. Sure, I could have used one of the tools on Google Chrome or written them down on paper. But it’s not the same.

Buy a planner from the local Staples, you say? Tried that. It was an outrageous $20 and both covers already came off. It also lacks the bell schedules that are a great way to distract yourself during a slow lesson, not to mention extremely helpful.

I understand wanting to be environmentally-friendly, I really do. But, is it worth losing the cherished tradition of free, school-personalized agendas? I fear for this year without the organization, the on-hand bell schedule and, no doubt, the pages upon pages of math tools.

Now I know what you’re thinking: agendas are dumb anyway, all of the homework is on Google Classroom. As true as that is, nothing is as satisfying as being able to cross off the work you’ve completed in your agenda. This feeling of accomplishment that we have known not just from our years at West Essex, but our years in elementary school, has been taken from us.

As great as Chromebooks are, they don’t replace the glory of agendas. Without them, my organization and sadly my childhood is lost.