I love Diet Coke. Like I love love it. It’s got everything you could ever want for zero calories — which honestly still baffles me even after I Googled it, but whatever — it has a surprising amount of caffeine and it’s available at pretty much anywhere. And you can barely taste the chemicals, I promise.
It seems like I’ve sipped Diet Coke through all of my favorite high school moments. I’ve somehow managed to pass all my IB classes, stayed truant every year of high school and still made it home for mandatory family dinners, all thanks to this drink. And here I am with a virtual diploma, caffeine addiction and a whole lot of stories.
That includes when I drank two large caffeinated Diet Cokes before a debate tournament and literally shook while standing up at the podium, which prompted Kara — my debate partner — to ban me from all caffeine before any debate tournament.
And of course there was the time I brought three cans to school so I would be fully energized for my four-hour mandatory IB work night — which created a cycle of bouncing off the walls, deciding to rewrite my extended essay and crying in the library bathroom. Not my best moment. Let’s just say caffeine really sends me through a whirlwind of emotions.
One time I even showed up to a writer’s deadline for Harbinger with a large McDonald’s Diet Coke — shocker right — and ended up laying in a dog bed with my soon-to-be best friend. Which ultimately led to a required QuikTrip trip run before every Harbie deadline — Diet Coke for me and blue slushy for her.
Oh and it might shock you, but I was also drinking Diet Coke when the head editors randomly promoted me to a copy editor at 9 p.m. on deadline and I had to call my mom to tell her the news. Same goes for when I was in the middle of a QT run when the second semester staff list came out and I found out I was promoted to assistant design editor — sophomore Sarah would be very proud.
So basically what I’m trying to say is thank you, Diet Coke. For making it possible to stay up all night “studying” for finals, somehow allowing me to design two pages while putting my draft up on Sunday’s and most importantly for being there with me through all the amazing things that high school had to offer.
Oh, and I almost forgot — Diet Coke was even there for me when I got kicked off Harbinger and was convinced I would never be writing my very own senior column. But that’s a story for another day, and another can of Diet Coke.