It’s nearly time for seniors to say goodbye to a staple of their Malvern education.

With all but an eighth of my high school career over, we received the announcement in class that my days of Membean have come to an end. As AP Literature & Composition teacher Mr. John Bohannon made this announcement, I realized that I have mixed feelings about the end of this era.

The online vocabulary lessons have been a staple of my English education at Malvern since the start of freshman year. Although my classmates and I have complained a lot in the past four years, I’ll admit it that I have enjoyed the hours I’ve spent racking up minutes.

Over the years, Membean has inflated my grades and, more importantly, expanded my vocabulary. I’m saddened when I hear about underclassmen trying to cheat the system. Membean really doesn’t feel all that different from any other computer game that might consume my hours. Trust the process. If you want to finish high school with a better repository of useful words, this game is one of the most useful ones around.

I thought of what could be the most fitting way to make a tribute to Membean and I have decided that it would be fit to use as many Membean words as possible to write one of my final columns. I will italicize them as I go as a way of showing my exquisite and expansive use of my Membean knowledge. I do not want to make this verbose, but some may consider it the final requiem of Membean for our class.

I have always stifled out the thought of doing Membean because I used to think of it as ponderous and something that could put me to sleep as I incessantly click the correct answers word by word. Recently however, I have wanted to do Membean on my own volition. At first, the reason why I made this change eluded me, but now as I think about it more, I truly believe that Membean has helped bolster my everyday language to new levels. It is not the traditional vocabulary of simple regurgitating the words and only understanding them at a facile level. I have been able to gain an actual retention of almost all of the words I have seen over the past four years.

From the repertoire of videos in the word theater to the barrage of words seen in the word constellations, there has been a tangible difference for me, not just in my vocabulary, but also in my ability to use those words in context properly. Whether in a rant or just banter I can use many of these new words to my advantage to better my repute.

So thank you Membean, for everything you have been able to teach me over the past four years. The honor is mine to have participated in this distinctly Malvernian tradition. I look forward to vicariously passing on my Membean knowledge onto others, and utilizing the 4,575 minutes and numerous tests I spent with you to my advantage.

Membean words used: 21