A lot can happen in one minute. A birth, debate, fight, and even a speech. But sometimes a lot of horrible things can take place in one minute.

Students at Oshkosh North learned this on November 1, 2018 after they took to their 2nd hour classes taking it as a normal day. But shortly after the bell rang for class to start, a voice sounded over the speaker announcing the school was going into a hard lockdown. With no time to think, students were filed into a corner as the teacher locked the door and turned the lights off. Panic and confusion filled the minds of the students.

It didn’t take long for the teacher to ask for help to barricade the classroom door. The light of the Smart Board that gave comfort to some was turned off.

“I didn’t know if I was safe or if I was going to see my mom again,” said Junior Ema Smith.

Rumors filled into text messages, some saying a fight broke out and someone got hurt, a robbery was taking place at a bank, or that an unknown person was wanting to harm the school’s population with a weapon. No one knew what was happening for certain until the lockdown was all over.

After the event it was revealed that no weapon was at large and the situation was just a misunderstanding. This brought outrage to some students, as the police failed to communicate with the city’s population and families took matters into their own hands, believing the worst and coming to the school themselves.

“I was frightened for my safety and [the safety of] all my friends,” said Alec Campbell, Senior.

November 1, 2018, was a day no one expected to happen to North but it brings the understanding that these situations can happen anywhere: at any school, church, restaurant, nightclub, or home. Oshkosh North High School will move on from these events and become stronger than ever and stand with pride.