Today I'm thankful for my old high school. It's been a few years since I graduated, yes, but I still appreciate the experiences I had there.
When I was in middle school, I went to a public school. For the record, I am in no way talking smack against the public school system. I think it is a valuable asset to society. Towards the end of my eighth grade year, I found myself dreading more and more going to the public high school. Let me rephrase that, I dreaded going to any high school with the group of bullies that had tormented me for a fair number of years. I was done with the name calling, the teasing, the tripping, the commentary, the looks, etc. Yes, I was a pudgy kid who wore baggy clothes and read books and had stinky shampoo (I admit that stuff was noxious) and who was completely inept in P.E. (physical exertion wasn't my thing). That still didn't warrant the bullying. By time high school was approaching, I decided I needed a switch. I wanted to go to a different high school. At that point, I would have gone to a school on Mars if it meant getting away from those kids. We looked into another public high school (that is funnily enough closer to my house than the former) but there was something about it being difficult to switch because of zoning or something. I don't remember why that didn't come through, but one day I was dinking around on the Internet and a light bulb moment hit me. There was a high school affiliated with our church. I'd heard about it before but until then hadn't thought to, well, check into it. Not a month later we had a meeting at L High and the rest is history.
Actually, the story only begins there. See despite my desperation to get away from the previous class, I quickly realized that my former school had nevertheless been a comfort zone of sorts. It was familiar to me. Sure, I was harassed. Sure I was the fat stinky misfit. But I at least knew the place. This new school wasn't much different at first. Well, I didn't have the bullying problem anymore so that in and of itself was an improvement (and a big reason for going there in the first place). I was still pudgy but I didn't stink anymore (I ditched that smelly shampoo). I still felt like a misfit. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, right? Whatever, I was fairly miserable the first few weeks of high school. I knew. no. one. I hid in the bathroom at lunch (true story) to avoid the sitting dilemma (as I recounted previously, in a small school there simply isn't the option of sitting alone). It's funny, I can remember all of this, but I don't remember exactly what it was that changed because certainly by the end of that first semester, I couldn't have dreamed of being anywhere else. Okay, maybe Middle Earth, but that's a different story. (I still hadn't completely kicked my Lord of the Rings obsession at that point). I know that a monumental change came when I met one of my current best friends. I was thankful for my friend Lakota earlier on this whole series business. Well meeting her was instrumental in my transition phase at L High. That one new friend gave me a whole new outlook at the school. By Christmas break, I was bringing candy canes to hand out to friends. Friends! The most candy canes I had ever given out was maybe five at the absolute most (and that included my teachers). That year, I think I bought two or three boxes. The rest from there really is history.
I played soccer my freshman and sophomore years. I both loved and hated it. I joined a teens for life group and stuck with that over the years. I joined theatre my sophomore year (with a brief stint my freshman year when my three legged dog was a five dollar dog in a play and I was his chaperon at practices) and by time I graduated I was a Thespian and had acted in three plays. I was in photography club, book club (of course), knit-wits (we knitted, don't judge me), and Harry Potter club (are you really that surprised?). Most of all, by time I graduated, I had developed close relationships with a number of teachers and peers who I am still in contact with.
So there it is, my ugly duckling story.
8 more days to Thanksgiving!
Signed,
RF
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