"Imagine the day your great-great-grandmother was born, then go back another hundred years or so. That’s roughly when Hills Village Middle School was built," the author suggests. Originally, he humorously speculates that the site might have been a prison for Pilgrims, highlighting how much history has passed since then. The location has since transformed into a school, though he jokes that it still functions as a kind of prison for young teenagers.

"Now it’s a prison for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders," he continues, using humor to describe the challenging years of middle school. This playful comparison emphasizes the struggles typical of adolescence, framing these years as a sort of tough, confining period—similar to a prison, but one filled with the chaos and trials of growing up.