Elliot Cottington
Senior
Have you ever thought about what you smell everyday? Our noses are bombarded with so many different odors and scents that sometimes it’s hard to remember each individual one. Shampoo, deodorant, perfume, clean laundry; all of these can all blend into one forgettable scent because of their fleeting and commonplace nature. But as soon as you walk into a place like Zumbach’s, the intense aroma of roasting coffee fills your senses and locks itself in your mind. However, not all smells are created equal, and few are as pleasant as those wafting out of that little coffee shop. As I’m sure most students are aware, NCHS is home to a wide variety of scents, ranging from the downright delicious to the seriously stanky, and many of them stand out above all.
Let’s start with the place where every student goes at least once per day: the lounge. Depending on whether you enter the cafeteria first thing in the morning or later in the day, you will be subjected to a different sensory experience. At 7:15 AM, the Lounge is home to a pleasant combination of croissant and cinnamon roll, mixed with a hint of chocolate chip cookie. Nothing says good morning like the scent of the Lounge before classes start. However, as the day progresses, the cafeteria can be pretty hit or miss with its smells. When Rosa and company are experimenting with a new hot lunch option, such as seafood, you might want to stay back. I’m sure whatever they have been cooking tastes great, but my nose would beg to differ. On the other hand, the days where breakfast is for lunch can be some of the most rewarding to your sniffer, as the smell of bacon, waffles and syrup permeates the room.
Food smells are pretty neutral territory, as something that smells foul to me could be a tantalizing scent of someone else’s favorite food. However, there are certain stenches that are pretty much universally displeasing. Exhibit A: locker rooms. Although I can’t speak for the girl’s locker room, I can say with relative confidence that the boy’s locker room is one of the reasons why I dread going to gym. As soon as you open the second door of that room, you are hit with an almost indescribably terrible smell, which can best be described as a mix of dirty socks and sweat. If you are like me, you try to limit the time you spend changing as much as possible, lest you pass out from holding your breath for too long.
Thankfully, NCHS’s team of domestic goddesses, Mrs. Stirgwolt (formerly Langlais, or just Ms. Amanda), Mrs. Sapienza, and Mrs. Kearns, help to provide some relief on your walk back from gym class. Nothing compares to when the Foods & Nutrition kids are cooking and the scent of freshly baked pastries fills the entire hallway next to the fitness room. After a prolonged period in some of the stinkiest parts of our school, it’s pretty great to walk past what is basically a bakery and take in the sweet, sweet aroma of cookies, cakes and other desserts. Even if they aren’t making something sugary and delicious, the smell of food is always preferable to sweat and unwashed clothes.
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has noticed the…unique scents that can be found in our school, as anyone with a Twitter will recall the Marine Bio squid dissection incident which left the third floor reeking of undercooked fish sticks for a solid week. Whether good or bad, the smells we experience at school are something we typically get used to, that is until the fateful day when some freshmen go too hard in gym class and leave the locker room smelling extra ripe, or that new fish entree smells more appalling than appealing. Thankfully, there are certain areas where you can find relief from our schools more funky odors, which I’m sure you will now be much more aware of.
