Marquise Buckley’s day starts like many other high school students: waking up before the sun, and already late for school. His mom drives him to school every morning, and—despite being chronically late—he likes to stop somewhere for breakfast. Lately, he usually goes to QuikTrip, where his go-to order is a donut and a strawberry boosted smoothie.
“We used to go to Circle K every morning, but Jamie—she was an amazing woman—was wrongfully fired because she was sick. She was the nicest person ever.” People and relationships are some of the most important things in Buckley’s life, and it’s evident in both what he says and how he acts. Even when it comes to the seemingly unimportant things in life, such as where he goes to get breakfast, he gravitates towards people that he can form a relationship with. To him, life is more than just a list of achievements to check off, it’s about experiencing as much as he can.
Sometimes, that doesn’t mean being the funniest in the room or talking to the most people. Sometimes, “experiencing” also means doing little things for yourself throughout the day, and appreciating what no one else can see or hear.
“I’m usually late to all of my classes because I like to listen to music, and I like to walk in as the song’s either ending or hitting its climax. It’s just a thing I do for me.”
Missing a few minutes of a lecture doesn’t bother him much, though. To him, education is important, but not as important as the social part of the school day. According to Buckley, “Lunch is probably where I do the most,” he said. “The very first thing I do is go to DECA. I only spend money at DECA when they have sugar cookies. If they don’t have sugar cookies, I walk right out and I say ‘JP, you guys need to call the truck and make sure I have my sugar cookies.’ As soon as I go in there, they know to start giving me sugar cookies.”
the way I talk.” – Marquise Buckley (12) (Meghan Lynch)
For an extrovert, lunchtime is definitely one of Buckley’s favorite parts of the day.
“I kind of try to talk to random people for like the first five or 10 minutes. I’ll just join a random group and talk to them,” Buckley said.
His outgoing nature is inspired by the word “sonder.” The word means so much to him that he got it as a tattoo. He uses the word has a life motto.
“Sonder is the realization that everyone is as vivid and complex as you are,” he shared. “I got that tattooed because I feel like all of my life, I’ve always felt that way. I don’t think that there’s a ‘main character,’” Buckley said. “[My tattoo’s] name is Ella. I do name my tattoos. I think everyone should name their tattoos because they’re a part of you. They’re like a child to me.”
Buckley’s outgoing personality has reached almost every corner of the school, and it’s safe to say that he’d be known in any room he walked into. He’s a walking lesson in self-confidence, and having enough of it to explore new facets of yourself without fear.
