We all grow up watching movies that portray high school as a place full of cliques and a specific, inescapable pecking order of popularity. Jocks gain energy from bagging on anyone from goths to geeks. The entire student body is drowning in pep, attending every sporting event to cheer on their ‘dominant’ peers.

I never expected to find everyone singing in the hallways on their way to class, but any student may be shocked to find the unorthodox lifestyle on our campus.

“Everyone is equal,” sophomore Sheila Florez said. “I expected that high school was gonna be really, really hard, and people bullying people, and when I came, it was nothing like that.”

It seems almost like a harmonious biosphere where all the inhabitants seamlessly fit together. There is no hierarchy of football players and cheerleaders. Instead, there is a melting pot of all different people with all sorts of talents and passions.

“I feel like everybody is cool with everybody and they are all friendly… everyone gets along,” sophomore Natalie Gomez said.

While other schools put more focus on the athletes than anyone else, Combs is home to one of the top five marching bands in state as well as an award winning drama department, and proud of it.

In recent years, marching band has placed in the top five of division three at state and also came in first last year while in division four. This major accomplishment instilled more than just school pride, but a sense of unity amongst students.

CHS is no stranger to loss and the marching band winning state in honor of a classmate that had previously passed away was a win for everybody.

The drama department, including comedic improv. group, ‘The Gutbusters’, is also a big hit. Students such as Emily Solomon, Tynan Cameron, Lilly Burnquist, Tyler Palomo and a handful of others, have time after time, received superior and other recognition at state thespian festivals.

Thanks to the new performing arts center, their talent can be properly displayed to the public.

“They’re all leaders in their own ways,” freshman Louis Candelas said. “Everyone’s doing their own thing.”

Who said you have to play sports to be cool anyways? Who came up with the idea of a food chain of high schoolers? It is apparent that our school is unlike the rest. Not because of the amount of boots and belt buckles you’ll see, but because of the way all of the students coexist so well.