AP Literature teacher John Day and his students celebrated “death day” on Feb. 13. 

The class celebrated this morbid-sounding event because last year on Feb. 13, Day had a heart attack. While he was at the hospital his heart stopped for 15 sec. meaning he was technically dead. 

“To me it’s about having fun with the morbidity of it and kind of just celebrating it as almost a new chance at life,” Day said. 

He celebrated the day by having students read the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson and engage in discussion about what happens after death, last meals and bucket lists. Day said his bucket list includes skydiving and visiting Italy. 

“The discussion made me realize we should cherish every moment because we never know when it will be our last,” senior AP Literature student Sierra Witchey said. 

The moment of realization Witchey had in class mirrors how Day felt after his heart attack last year. 

“This event made me start re-evaluating things in my life and changed my life in many ways by making me stop taking life so seriously and enjoy every aspect of it,” Day said.

Day really used his experience to remind his students to be grateful and celebrate life. 

“Everyone thinks death is so sad, and I thought ‘no let’s have fun with it,’” Day said. 

After his heart attack, he got a pacemaker put in and is planning on celebrating his “death day” every year. 

“Everyone has a birthday, but very few people have a death day,” Day said.