As a sophomore at Roosevelt today, I have wondered what it would be like to be a student at Roosevelt 20-30 years ago.

What was their life like outside of school? How did they have their fun?

Most of the time my friends and I are at a field, at a basketball court, going down to Columbia Heights just to get food, messing around in parks, or finding new stores in our area. There are just so many activities and things that we do and most of the time we plan our activities in advance. We are always having fun, no matter the time or circumstance.

Inside of school, it is remarkably busy and at times hectic. When in class, depending on the class, it is hard to keep up with the work and understand it because everything moves so fast. Outside of the class, the hallways are always busy and clumped to the brim with people. There is hardly any space to move around and get to your next class.

To gain insight on what life for a Roosevelt student was like 30 years ago, I interviewed Lisa Cromer, class of 1992. She gave me so much information on how school was back then.

“Wow, it was 30 years ago, but from what I can remember, the experience I had in high school was exciting and sometimes a little bit boring. The teachers back in the day were a little older than the teachers now and taught class directly by the book, which made class a little bit on the boring side,” Cromer said.

They used little to no technology in her day, but Cromer described the school environment as friendly.

“The environment in school for the most part was very welcoming. Roosevelt was my neighborhood school. My dad graduated from there as well as my uncles, so I had a lot of friends and family that attended Roosevelt, which made the environment very comfortable and welcoming for me.”

Cromer further described her friend groups and the activities they had, some of which were quite different from mine.

“One of our main fun times, especially during school hours, was to go downtown and visit Martin Luther King Library and explore that huge environment of books. Outside of school hours, we spent time together, sleep overs, neighborhood cheerleading competitions and beach trips, all while building continuous friendships.”

Overall, Cromer recalls her time as high school student as enjoyable.

“I did everything to have fun, but mostly spending time with my family and friends, watching television, listening to music, reading books, and playing board games always made me smile.”

Cromer further expressed, “I never thought school or having fun would get to where it is today, so we should only expect things to keep growing and changing as we move forward.”

The fun we have now and the fun they had then is so different. Seeing how Roosevelt has developed from what it was then and how it is now is awesome. I only wonder how it will be in the future, how things will continue to change and innovate for Roosevelt and for D.C.