Apr
Strolling Down Memory Lane
I came face-to-face with my high school yearbooks the other day and all I can say is…um…wow?!?
I remember certain parts about high school (favorite teachers, nice people, silly times), but, overall, I don’t remember much. And, looking back at the way I looked, I can see why I’ve opted to block it out.
Seriously.
I’d share some pictures, only I don’t have a scanner (lucky you). And I’d probably be mortified to share them, anyway.
What was fun, though, was seeing the cars…and the clothes…and the hairstyles that were big back then and comparing them to the way things are now. What struck me as funny throughout my little trip down memory lane was realizing how important things were then…that just don’t matter now. For instance, the people that used to make you feel small or less important just don’t matter anymore. And the people who were true then are, for the most part, the ones who still are…
Almost makes me wish that the wisdom and confidence that comes with age could come sooner. But I guess if it did, we’d miss out on some important life lessons.
So tell me some stuff… Where did you go to high school? When did you graduate? What do you remember fondly/not fondly. And…would you go back if you could?
~Elizabeth
April 7th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Would I go back to my high school class/year? I think I would. Despite being called a geek, a nerd, and a bookworm, my high school years were okay.
I had good teachers and for not being popular I knew most of the popular kids which overrided the bullies. I do remember the one thing that was important to me was going to college and getting out of my neighborhood which I accomplished.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:07 am
No Frakkin’ Way.
Yes some it was fun, but mostly it was hell. Watching my 15 y/o Freshman daughter go through it now is really tough. Nothing I can tell her makes the bad parts better.
The good: I met my wife at the end of Junior year (didn’t get married for 7 more years.) Made some friends that I still keep in touch with. Otherwise I don’t have fond memories of anything during that time.
Oh, and realized I will never live in Danbury again. By the end of Sophomore year I knew I was going to get as far away from that place as possible. 1000 miles is about right
Oh Elizabeth, I do have a scanner …
April 7th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Okay — fun one
1986 from Boonton High School…funny trivia fact: we were the Boonton Bombers—then I went to Ithaca College and played sports….Go Bombers!
I had a ’78 V-8 camaro….green! (and yes, at one point I did have fuzzy dice and a red bandanna hanging from the mirror with a Bruce pin on it.)
One of the best things….taking a day off school and driving down to Seaside Heights!
I had about a dozen hair combs of different colors so when I put in in my back pocket it matched my shirt (it was to comb the Farrah feathering back into my hair)!!
I wasn’t much for the on stage stuff, but I did props for our play production of Grease, and I was so impressed with the talent of many of my friends–tons of fun.
The Drama: There were some upperclassmen that I thought were super cool and they let me hang around them…then one day stopped talking to me, wrote mean things in my yearbook etc. I was devastated.
The Good: 25 years later I am now friends with the main culprit on Facebook and although we never ‘talked it out’ I think she knows what she did, and after having kids (triplets! LOL) is a very kind person.
and I LOVE that I have reconnected on facebook with over 40 people that I went to school with!
April 7th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Trying again… It was horrible. I was teased and bullied. Kuna, Idaho 1978. Go Kavemen. (Seriously.)
But I was also fearless. I went to NY on a history trip, saw the King and I, ran for student council with me being the snowball in hell, did Drama, played in the band, marched flag corp, attended Girls State, and was runner up for National Merit Scholarship.
I wish I was as fearless now.
April 7th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
I went to a POLISH Catholic high school in Milwaukee – Notre Dame at St. Stanislaus Church. Yes, we had nuns from Poland and had the opportunity to take language lessons (I already had my own from home.) and observed the “holy days” of Poland like getting out early on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday so we could go home and eat paczki (a Polish dessert – jelly bun)! Life was so innocent back then and as you said, there were things that were so important then that make me laugh now. Would I go back? I can’t. The school closed in the early 90′s as the need to be Polish diminished probably along with the need of many to be educated by nuns. But I have 2 things from those days that I still cherish 33 years later – my friends Diana & Deebie. We don’t often reminisce about the silliness. Instead we share the tragedies and the happinesses of current days knowing that those high school days were only building blocks for the great women we are today!
April 8th, 2010 at 2:14 am
1984 Grad of Stinnett High School (no longer exists, they consolidated with two other schools). Home of the fighting Rattlers. I loved most of my classes and teachers (with the exception of algebra), and have some of my high school teachers on my Facebook now. I was a band geek, and still play flute.
But other than that, I hated high school. Like Lynn, I was teased and bullied, and could not WAIT for high school to be over. Go back? Not in a million years.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:20 am
These were very cool stories. I like the way you ended your comment Mary…about how you and your high school buddies don’t really talk about the old times but have used those years as building blocks. Very nice.
Chris, um, let’s leave the scanner alone, shall we?
I’m with some of you…I wouldn’t go back either. I might opt to redo college (liked most of that) but not high school. Not unless I could go back with the wisdom/confidence I have now.
Great stuff, everyone!!!