Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. This is the life of Connie, the newest student in calculus teacher Edmund Mahoney’s classroom.

Named Constance for the constant of integration and nicknamed Connie by Mahoney, she was a gift from senior Ilona Bodnar and two former students, Emily Chin, Class of 2014, and Jessica Kim, Class of 2014.

“We looked at the little list of fishes and found the cheapest and we decided, that’s the one,” Kim said. “She’s cute. Normally, I hate fish but she’s something special. She’s like the baby I never wanted, but I came to love her.”

Chin described Connie as a surprise gift for Mahoney to share with his classes.

“We walked into the classroom, and a bunch of students gave us weird looks—Mr. Mahoney just stared,” Chin said. “He didn’t expect us to go through with it and actually buy him a fish. Connie was a very well spent three dollars.”

After overcoming his shock, Mahoney accepted the Beta into his classroom, Bodnar said.

“When we first introduced them, he just looked at us like we were crazy and asked us where the food was that we didn’t bring,” Kim said.

It has not been entirely smooth swimming for Connie, feeding her has continued to be a problem.

“When I brought her home for the weekend, my sister asked, ‘why’s the fish so fat?’” Bodnar said. “Mr. Mahoney overfed her, so she got really fat for awhile. We had to cut down on her food. I told him he had to watch it, otherwise she’d get fat again.”

During her recovery, her absence was noticed.

“When Connie was sick, everyone was interrogating me about her,” Bodnar said. “Everyone thought the fish was dead. I got messages, people would come up to me and ask if I  was the girl with the fish and how she was doing.”

Bodnar sees Connie’s return as inspirational.

“She survived death and continues to swim,” Bodnar said.

With Chin and Kim away, Bodnar takes Connie on walks regularly, bringing her to and from her home.

“I try to give her away for the weekend, but I usually end up with her anyway,” Bodnar said. “That’s the shared custody agreement, during the week Mr. Mahoney watches her at school and he feeds her. She doesn’t go home with him, he isn’t ready to take her home yet.”

Though Connie was not their first choice, she was the right choice for Mahoney, Chin said.

“I didn’t just meet her, I bought her, and she looked dead,” Chin said. “Jessica and I were walking around Petco, and we saw all these goldfish, and we totally thought we should get them. But then this guy came up to us, and he tells us that those are turtle food, and we can’t actually buy them. So we found Connie. We would have bought another, but Betas fight.”

Mahoney and Connie connect on a deep, personal level, Bodnar said.

“Jessica chose the fish because she was the cheapest and because she matches his blue eyes,” Bodnar said.

Chin also found a connection to a previous class fish.

“Connie reminds me of [English teacher Beth Black’s] old fish, Deepthroat,” Chin said.

Chin hopes to return to visit Connie and Mahoney, but regrets she will be missing her birthdays.

“We were going to have a birthday party for Connie, but we don’t know how old she is, so we made her birthday coincide with Mr. Mahoney’s,” Chin said. “We decided to celebrate every two months, and I’m going to miss her first birthday.”

Kim hopes that the Connie will bring Mr. Mahoney and her closer.

“Mr. Mahoney is one of the coolest teachers ever and he deserves her,” Kim said. “It’s my excuse to visit Mr. Mahoney.”

Connie can be found swimming on Mahoney’s desk during weekdays. Public feedings are at 7:30 a.m. and 2:30p.m.