As classes take place through each student’s day, there is one place where ‘tea’ brews. What grew from a simple after-school stop now booms with students coming together and conversations spark after the final bell, the auditorium.

Across Edison, the auditorium has always played a role as the ordinary location for student performances, makeshift gym periods, and a waiting space for students throughout the school day. For many students, however, it functions as an informal theatre for students to gather and wind down with each other before they head home. Regardless of the student, the auditorium has been described as one of the most essential parts of student life, where it offers a place for connecting in as a school that otherwise lacks that communal space right after the final bell.

Unlike colleges or campuses that offer common student lounges for students to come together, Edison has few to no places that fill that space that students crave for a social outlet. Throughout Edison’s history, the auditorium has taken the role of becoming an accessible place for students to unite after classes, relax and connect after the final bell has rung.

“Many people enjoy handing out in the auditorium because it gives them a chance to talk with friends they do not usually get to see during the school day,” said Rozina Mowree, a senior that often visits the auditorium approximately three times a week.

When it comes down to being able to separate yourself from most teachers and other administrators, the auditorium’s atmosphere provides that contributes to its popularity for students, “The auditorium is kind of like neutral ground where everyone can relax without getting yelled at by a random teacher or getting in trouble,” said Amir Islam, a senior who visits the auditorium every day after school. 

Others point to the limitations of other spaces, such as the school library, that might provide risk for disturbing others for it to act as a socially active environment, “You can’t really talk as much as in any other place. The library is supposed to stay quiet, so it doesn’t really work for socializing,” said Nafiz Noor, a junior who visits the auditorium twice a week.

In comparison to college for some seniors, the auditorium represents a space that Edison otherwise lacks entirely, “In colleges, you usually have lounges or places where people can stay and interact with others. Edison doesn’t really have that, so I think the closest thing we have to a communal space is the auditorium,” Grady Li, a senior who now uses the auditorium after needing to wait for transportation after school, said.

As students use this communal space, the countless hours that are spent throughout the day in the auditorium build shared experience and empower friendships that couldn’t thrive in the classroom. Whether people visit the auditorium to take naps, finish their homework, chat with their friends, the space has proven to act as a bubble where students made some of their most precious memories.

“When we go there, we laugh a lot, spill some tea, talk about our lives, studying, and fun moments,” said Megna Khan, a junior who visits the auditorium a few times a month to meet with friends.

Though Nafiz visits only occasionally when he has time after his own errands, he finds that, “it’s really the people around you that make the experience enjoyable,” Nafiz Noor said. 

During the panic of AP examinations throughout May, Senior Rozina Mowree found a space where full of panic and scurry, reflect in the afternoon after AP testing.

“One memorable moment was after finishing the AP Language exam, when many of my friends gathered in the auditorium to talk about the test and celebrate being finished with most of our AP exams,” Rozina Mowree said.

Though socializing has been one of the most use cases of the auditorium, the space also holds a black grand piano in the corner that students are allowed to interact with and play. For one of many students, this piano has played a role in bringing students together through music.

“One moment that was particularly memorable was a couple of months ago. I was playing the piano while some of my friends were around me, and I started playing ‘Human’ by The Killers. Everyone suddenly started harmonizing together, and it just felt magical.” said Joshua Cohen, a senior who has ever since started practicing the piano since sophomore year at Edison; playing after school in the auditorium as a way to improve his own skills and eventually find a place to even perform for school events, such as “Le Show” during May.

Throughout all of these moments, students choose to stay in the auditorium for the atmosphere that it provides, itself becoming a main part for why students choose to continue returning. Whether it is groups of friends gathered between rows of seats, badminton games near the front of the auditorium, or heated UNO arguments, students describe the space as lively long after classes end. 

“If your friends are with you, the whole environment becomes chaotic anyway… I would name it a ‘Chamber of Giggles,” Megna Khan said, through her own perspective of friendly chatter with her friends when they reunite after school.

“I’d describe it as a good opportunity to spend additional time with your friends and socialize once you find your people,” Grady Li said, being able to reunite with friends even during gym, makes him feel more comfortable and well-spirited throughout the day.

Students also explained that the auditorium is one of the few places at Edison where the pressure from school weighs off their shoulders, and that going home directly after the final bell is not always the most preferable option when their friends are already gathered in the same space.

“I also think a lot of people just don’t want to go home right away after school. I’ve definitely felt that before too — sometimes you just want to stay at school a little longer. I think that’s true for a lot of students,” Joshua Cohen said. 

Long after the final bell rings, the auditorium remains one of the few places at Edison where students from different grades, classes, and schedules can come together to make memories that may even last a lifetime. And for those who have never stayed after the final bell to experience it themselves, maybe the real question remains: what moments have they been missing out on?