Stolen Minutes and Secret Screens: The True Value of School Lab Time

Computer Lab and Spoken English Lab periods in school were only 45 minutes, yet we would wait hours, sometimes days for them, eyes peeled in anticipation. The most awaited words from our teachers were, “Let’s go to the lab today and practice.”

And of course, we weren’t excited about the practice. The moment we heard that line, it became a mad race for the last seats because that’s where all the crimes happened. Those seats had seen everything.

Back then, we weren’t allowed to watch TV except for an hour after dinner and on Sundays. So the lab became our little escape. Sometimes it was YouTube, sometimes downloaded movies or songs. We didn’t care how many times we watched the same videos, it was the act of breaking the rule that made them special. Every movie, every song, every stolen minute felt new.

And now, when I think of it, it wasn’t really about the screens or the songs. 

It was about us,

the laughter, the whispers, 

the feeling of getting away with something small,

alive in our little rebellions, 

and the way those 45 minutes made us feel infinite.

Little by little, day by day, I am beginning to understand how precious those seven years were. Those times set a standard so high that even now I find myself searching for those 45 minutes again. It’s hard to accept that time moved on, school moved on, friends moved on but a part of me is still there.

Now we have our own paths to walk, our own desires to chase, our own dreams to conquer.

But sometimes, in quiet moments, I still wish for those 45 minutes back.