Before she started driving to school, St. Charles North senior Katie Gustafson loathed lugging her bowling ball to her locker.

Forget maneuvering the bag into a confined space without smashing her notebooks and lunch. That was a breeze compared to the apparent emotional load she carried.

“Even just myself, I was more embarrassed about it,” Gustafson said. “I’d just be walking down the hallway with my bowling ball bag, and everyone’s like, ‘What’s that?’ and I wouldn’t want to tell them, ‘Oh, it’s a bowling ball.’ ”