Friday, June 10, 2016

High School was a long time ago

I'd written about some heavier topics this week, you know, like, depression relapses and rapists who receive idiotic punishment... so I thought I'd end it Friday with a little fun.  (after all, I had this in draft, and it didn't need much work to publish, so there you have it...less work for me; fun times for you.)

I'm stealing borrowing this post about High School Reflections from the lovely Audrey Louise; and it appears that she stole borrowed the post as well.  Folks, it has been *cough* 25 years since I graduated high school.  Yes, you read that correctly.  For me, that means I straddled the late '80s and early '90s for my high school experience.  For you, that means you get to see pictures from 25 years ago.  Holla for the big hair!

The yearbook photos
What kind of student you were in high school (popular, nerd, sport obsessed, choir, etc).
I'm not sure I fit into any one particular group.  I was on the high school drill/dance team and that consumed a lot of my time and attention.  I was friends with and in classes with so-called "nerds".  Funny enough, of those that I have contact with these days, most would fall into this group.  They grew up to be the wittiest, most intelligent, and interesting group (no surprise). 
For two years, I dated a football player, and you know, in Texas, football is like a religion.  And, I participated in and had friends in my church youth group.  While I was a die hard Bon Jovi girl (and lover of all hair bands), a few of my close friends were "new wave" kids who loved The Cure and The Smiths.  I went to some parties but didn't drink.  So, some of the "cool kids" weren't fans of me while others that I considered "popular" were good friends of mine.  I'd say I was pretty well-rounded, but yet, I didn't feel like I fit in to any one group 100% of the time.



About your school. Was it private? Public? How many in graduating class? Mascots? School colors?
My high school was a public school in the 'burbs of Houston.  I can't remember...I think we had 300ish in the graduating class.  Mascot - the War Eagles; colors - red, white, and blue; school fight song was to the tune of "Grand Ol' Flag", and I still remember the pom routine that we performed every time it played.

About some of your favorite memories of high school or what stands out the most. Any teachers? Specific classes?
As mentioned before, the good ol' Liberty Belles took up a lot of time and focus.  There were practices and camps, games and competitions, choreography and marching drills, costumes and meetings, try-outs, sore muscles, sprained ankles plus a fractured ankle and thumb (both needed casts at different times)...this was mixed with valuable lessons of hard work and dedication, memorable friendships, laughs, sweat, tears, and rivalries.


Other memories that come to mind as I type this:
  • Thesis day in Mrs. B's English class (I had her sophomore and senior years); she'd wad up your paper and throw it across the room if she knew that you wrote it in homeroom before coming to class...and she knew...she always knew if you'd done a half-ass job.
  • Reebok hi-tops ... I was kind of known for having pretty much every color that they made at the time.
  • Sitting in Ms. S's Geography class on the back row with JY (don't know if people from that time want their name floating around the internet) and becoming each other's "back-up plan"...you know the one..."if I'm not married by 40, look me up, and let's get hitched" kind of plan.
  • Our salutatorian (who I frequently still chat with on facebook) said in the closing of his speech "crossdressers need love too"...yes, he liked to push buttons and provoke the heavily populated Southern Baptist community.  He was ahead of his time.
  • My 1984 Pontiac Firebird
  • Mums - I think this is just a Texas thang, so let me explain...at Homecoming, you get this mum (as in the flower) with ribbons and gizmos and ribbons with stickers and lights and even more ribbons, and heck, the one I'm wearing in the picture below even played music!

A piece of advice you would pass on to your children or any child entering high school.
This advice from Miss Audrey Louise is pretty perfect: "Be nice to your friends and the kids that aren’t so popular. Be nice to teachers and administration and your parents. If all the fish in the sea aren’t being nice, swim the opposite direction and show some kindness."
Also, I'd say: Apply yourself.  Participate.  Be active.  Utilize mentors.  Speak your mind, but prepare to listen and learn as well.  Don't take yourself too seriously, but don't be a total clown either.
You know that you envy that hair.  My apologies to the ozone layer.
A piece of advice you would pass on to your children or any child exiting high school.
There was an old saying about high school: "these are the best years of your life."  No, they aren't.  Don't let that happen.  Appreciate the gift of life and what this great big world has to offer.  Travel.  If you can study abroad, do it, even for only a semester.  Do NOT use credit cards foolishly.  Debt is a bitch and can haunt you for years.  Put the effort to maintain friendships you feel are worth it.  Let go of the ones that aren't.  Open yourself up to meeting new people and learning new things.  Always keep learning.

Care to share your high school reflections?

13 comments:

  1. What a great post! I might steal....I mean....borrow it for my blog next week! :)

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  2. i LOVE this - it's so fun! and your hair - i die for that :) you are SO right girl - high school is not the best years of your life, i think it just gets better. and plus high school kids are friggen mean ha. thanks for the throwback!

    xoxo cheshire kat

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  3. Ooh, I love this :) Your hs photos are WAY more glamorous than mine!! Haha!
    I love that your English teacher tossed out the dud papers! Haha! And that graduation speech!! That's an awesome memory! I love your post-school advice. High school definitely wasn't "the best years of my life"- it gets harder but it gets better!
    (Thanks for all the little shout outs! You're great!!)

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  4. Apologies to the ozone layer! I love it! Your photos are like Glamour Shots or something! Your big hair looked waaaay much better than most big hair hairstyles of the late 80s/early 90s! Seriously, most of the big hair of my classmates looked like they got electrocuted or something!

    The Homecoming mum thing must be a southern thing because we did that, too, in West Virginia. Our mums were a bit smaller and didn't have nearly as many ribbons as yours, though, and the ribbons were shorter. Your mum looks heavy, girl! Were you homecoming queen? (I see "Queen" written on one of the ribbons.)

    When I hear people say that high school is the best time of your life, my first instinct, which is based on my own experience, is to cringe because I believe that no, it's not. But, sadly, for many it is. I remember running into a guy I went to high school with one time at the gas station in my hometown in December '96 or '97. He graduated in 1989 and he was still wearing his letterman jacket. Throughout high school, he was the star athlete, the guy that all the girls had crushes on, but he wasn't good enough to play on the college level. His jacket was worn and frayed around the cuffs and it was quite obvious that he had worn that jacket A LOT. As we stood in line to pay for our gas (no pay at the pumps yet), we made cordial chit chat. He indicated that he was working in a mine, was married, and was on his way to the basketball game at our alma mater. As I drove back to my parent's house, I remember thinking about his letterman jacket, for I couldn't remember the last time I had wore mine. I ran into him a few years later and, believe it or not, he was still wearing his letterman jacket and was on his way to a football game at the new high school (our high school was consolidated with another small, neighboring school to make a larger school). I remember thinking, "You're wearing a jacket from a school that no longer exists, a school that you graduated from a decade ago..." I got the overwhelming impression that he was having a hard time letting go of his glory days and that perhaps for him, high school might have been the best time in his life. It's a depressing thought to think that anyone could peak by the age of 18, but I think that is reality for some.

    Enjoyable post, Erin! I enjoyed the little trip down memory lane that it evoked in me. Have a good one!

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  5. I so love your advice!!! Dont let that be the best days of your life. They totally weren't mine.
    "Sorry to the ozone" - I so laughed at that. Every teen of the 80's / early 90's needs to give that apology.
    Kudos to that salutatorian for saying that. Wonder what prompted that. Did he know someone who was a cross dresser? I'd be interested in that back story :)

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  6. Love this post! I love your Texas/80's and 90's hair, and the picture of you with the mum! I really don't think that people who aren't from Texas understand that tradition at all. I also love your advice about traveling. One of my biggest regrets from college is not studying abroad when I had the opportunity.

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  7. High school was fine, but I'm with you, sooooo not the best years of your life. Love the old pics!

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  8. Love this post, Erin! And I plan to borrow it in the future. :) Love the hair too. My class picture would be similar, although my hair is sadly not quite as full as yours. I graduated 23 years ago, but in MN and we weren't famous for our "big hair" like Texas. So many people told me High School was going to be the "best time of my life" which concerned me at that time. High school was good but yikes! I had a lot of life in front of me and if my best years were already over - what a long, dull road ahead of me, ya know? I do remember graduating and feeling like the world was my oyster and I'd love to feel that way again.

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  9. This looks like fun...I may have to steal it from you & give it a try. I've been out of high school for seventeen years. Some days, it feels like more, others it feels like it was only yesterday that I was walking the halls. It's crazy how that is.

    Have a great weekend, pretty lady! :)

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  10. Flashback posts area always so fun!!! I hate when people call high school the best years of your life. I hated high school and couldn't wait to get out! You sound like my kind of friend in high school, I didn't really fit in with a certain group either and had random friends from different circles.

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  11. how... HOW could i have forgotten the reeboks?

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  12. your hair is seriously my favourite thing of any photo you share. i mean, you are now living in an area with the hole-y ozone layer, so i think you've paid your dues lol. but seriously, amazing hair.
    my high school reflections..... really awful hair. if yours was big, mine was flat to my head with gel. not cute. people didn't like me but i tried so hard. i hurt a lot of nice people trying to make the awful ones like me. i ended up with zero friends and left early and finished my schooling at tafe. i would not go back to high school if you paid me a million dollars, but i wouldn't be who i am today without it, so.. whatever.

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  13. This is a fun post idea and it's so great to see what you were like in high school.

    I have tried my best to block it out, so I don't know if I'll steal this post...Maybe I should...

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