High school memories

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Well, since no one has done it yet, I guess it's up to me:

Glad to see nothing's changed.



Seriously though, I was similar to you between 7th and 8th grade. I was super skinny, while I didn't have acne...I did have pimples at all the worst times, I was kind of nerdy looking, nearsighted, and I was socially inept when it came to girls.

The only thing that remains is the nearsightedness...

 

Wrong. I got my teeth fixed.

Oh yeah, that would have really helped.

 

Hmmm.... I think I want a recount on that vote.

 

I have always wondered if I was one of the exceptions. I enjoyed high school. My graduation class had 400 kids in it and I probably knew most of them. I was a bit of a social butterfly and would float from one clique to another without ever feeling any pressure to "conform" to that clique. I developed some really good friends and some of them are still some of my closest friends.

My only knock on my high school experience was the lack of sex. I was in high school in the early 80s and everyone was terrified of AIDS. When I was in school none of the girls even came close to dressing the way they do now. Then to top it off, I didn't learn until I was in college that you should never become friends with a girl if you think you may want to date/have sex with her. I still blame my dad for not explaining that one to me earlier.

Color me a

 

Oh wow, you missed out on sex in high school. That must have been abject torture.

 

It's kind of weird that I agree with everything Joacqin has said in this thread. I'm still amazed that so many of you (nerds as we all are) had such a hard time with high school...

And I think that was mostly tongue-in-cheek by Snook there.

 

High school wasn't good or bad for me. I wasn't in any particular social group but I didn't get picked on except for a couple of rare occasions. I had a few close friends and a lot of strange ideas. My style was kind of Gothic before Gothic became popular. I wore a lot of black, was good in English, art, and drama, and liked to hang out in the smokers pit sometimes, although I don't smoke now. My high school and young adult years certainly shaped who I am but I really wouldn't like to be that person again.

 

Long post, be advised

Wow, this thread has proven to be unexpected reading... I had a lovely high school experience and have cried my eyes out at the prom. I have changed towns to go to uni, but I still talk to my high school classmates every now and then, get and send text messages and arrange visits when in town. There are days I really miss them and the feeling of limitless possibilities that time was filled with. (High school here is for ages 15-18)

I'm finding it really hard to believe all the bad stuff some of you guys describe happening (I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just find it unbelievable) - it almost feels like we went to school on different planets.

I was the resident "brain" in my class, with the task of getting us all out of sudden test troubles and had a wide circle of acquaintances and friends, from all "groups", although I must admit that I'm rather lousy at social occasions, so most people I knew were casual acquaintances at best. I was never teased because of my geekery, or playing computer games all night or talking too fast or anything else - if anything I had a rather impressive reputation for being smart (as arrogant as that sounded...). A bit detached, but harmless, I suppose. Heck, I even had great time on my gym classes.
If I had to judge... I'd say that I was well liked, I was never in a fight with anyone, and I still have fond memories of my high school. Some of my best and dearest friends were the so called "trouble makers" but getting drunk/in a fight was the worst they did in school (mostly attention stunts and pranks really)

I've never witnessed nor heard of anyone being bullied in my school - there were a few fights, but those were proper fights, fists in the backyard stuff (boys fighting, of course). However, never bullying as such.

I suppose things probably got darker (in terms of fights, drinking...) on certain parties, when some people would get quite drunk, but that is hardly part of highschool as such and as a rule such things never spilled on bystanders, especially not girls. Alcohol was most definitely the predominant vice and places to get in trouble were the parks late at night (due to junkies or drunk football fans). However, you really had no way to get in trouble in school and on most school parties unless you were asking for it. We took care of each other, as a class - a drunk out of her wits girl (as much as such a sight is distasteful and plain stupid) always had a friend or two to take her home before she did something incredibly stupid.

This might sound a bit utopian for you, and sure, we all had our problems to deal with (a girl in my class was married, had a baby and still went to school, another one bleached her hair white trying to get blonde, a boy was smoking and hiding cigarettes in the fire extinguisher... and tried to use his dad's car (Volkswagen) for stunt driving... there were ones (Fs) to report home, and some cheated on tests, general fights... usual life stuff) but as a class we clicked quite good together, a few feuds aside and things would always work out, in the end.

I can still see myself walking home with a group of friends, and see them walking to their homes, one by one, until there was just me, crossing that last street. I'll never forget that feeling. Going to school was actually quite fun.

I'm really sorry for everyone who had a rough time in high school. That's not what it should be like.

P.S. You might think I'm an idealist with huge pink goggles, but that's really what my school was like. I know that a lot of bad stuff happens in schools nowadays, that there are drugs, guns and alcohol, but that was not a part of the world in which I went to school. School was a safe place, not a battlefield. If things got ugly, it happened elsewhere.

 

Oh yeah? This guy and his posse of retards did everything in their power to make my stay in this filthy disgusting dump called school a living hell.

That being said, I kept my cool at their messing with me for a very long time. They realized nothing they can throw at me fazed me off, and the head retard kept searching for a way to get under my skin (had trusted eyes and ears in this dump), and when my relationship with my then-gf became public, he saw an opportunity... picking on me didn't set me off, I suppose he figured that turning his attention to the person I cared the most in this world would. I had long been on the edge... this time, I was pushed over the edge.

This isn't a random act of violence. This was a WAR. A war that remained psychological until I took the (radical to some) measures to carry the message across loud and clear that you [censored] with me, you're gonna pay.

As for "getting away so easily"... that's what you think. I was fully conscious of what I had just done. I *knew* I was going to be punished, and I just went along with as little arguing as possible. The conditions to my reintegration were *very strict*, but I went along... a small price to pay, as my message had been carried out loud and clear. And ever since that day (back in that filthy dump, that is), NO ONE ever DARED [censored] with me again. Coincidence? I don't think so.

And as for being *proud*... I don't know where in my initial post you saw that. If you're refering to the fact *he* apologized to *me*... I didn't in any way forced an apology out of him. I had no intention of apologizing, either - why should I apologize to the one who pushed me over the brink?

Aaand, as for those who were creeped or scared by my act of ultraviolence... respect me and be square with me, and I'll return it. Ask any of my longtime friends -- I have the utmost respect (which is reciprocated) for those guys (and gals), and if they ever need something, they *know* they can count on me, and vice versa. Cross me, however... oh wait, we already got that part covered.

Aaaand, on a more pleasent note... prom night has been another subject of discussion here. I was still frequenting the same filthy hole, so prom night was packed with the same idiots. I *strongly* expected things could get ugly, so I went with my then-gf and we went along for the pics and crap like that... and we bailed out about an hour later. We decided that prom night would be *our* night.... and that NOTHING, and NOBODY would ruin OUR night. After we bailed out, I went to my stash to fetch the bottle of JD I had stashed aside especially for the evening earlier in the day. A friend of mine which was at the prom catched up with me and said we could crash at his old' folks country home, which happened to be pretty close to where our prom night was. We took up on the offer, and we made our way to the said cabin. Prom night happened to be a full moon night, and the view from inside the house was absolutely striking. We cuddled under the full moon, making good on our promise that this night would be *our* night. Indeed, this is a night that I will forever remember, and I cherish the memories.

 

I sympathise. People like them will push and push and push until you snap, they usually get a sick satisfaction out of watching someone break down mentally and physically. It's nice to know that when you finally broke, you did so in a fashion that ensured the retards wouldn't enjoy it.

 

I was a rock n' roller in high school. I was thin, long hair and hung out with other rockers at school. I played in concert band, marching band and all that fun stuff. I also played in drum and bugle corps and I started playing in rock bands locally at 16. I played a lot of the local bars and clubs while still in high school, making extra money. I spent my first two years still learning to play drums (although I started before high school) and practiced religiously with other musicians, most of them a bit older than me.

By my third year in high school I could really play and I settled down into a routine of playing out, with everything that went along with it; playing some clubs till midnight on school nights, and partying till dawn, with drinking, sex, a lot of substances, all of which meant no sleep on some occasions (but certain substances even made that easier). On the verge of a physical and mental breakdown, (I even collapsed in church one Sunday) my best friend, who was also a drummer, introduced me to his girlfriend's sister. It was instant attraction. She was beautiful, very sweet and we became very intimate through the rest of school; she later became my first wife. She really settled me down.

Most of high school for me was just a blur, but I made it through. But I still don't know how.

 

I've never been in our equivalent of high school with people of my age. Though, at roughly the same age frame as US high school - 13 to 16 - I was having my second phase of elementary.

I was bullied all along the first phase - 7 to 12. At the second phase my genetical problems had begun setting in, and I frankly have little memories of it. Bullying stopped once I started reacting with disproportionate force to offenses, such as replying with a thrown table to an airsoft gun. I was small and scrawny through first phase of elementary, but I put on a whole lot of weight, to the point of being morbidly obese, during the second phase. And I gained a reputation and temper so bad not even the teachers would dare to oppose me.

Memories... days when I was barred off all classes, sleeping in the hallway all day. A teacher almost pushing me down a flight of stairs. Another teacher collecting signatures for a petition to get me removed. Throwing a teacher out of my way, then later on at a later school doing the same thing to the principal. Having to use weaponry to defend myself against an another student. A teacher telling me she preferred me sleeping during class due to the fact that nobody dared to cause trouble in fear of waking me up.

I think I'd have gotten along with DotW fine.

And after that my life went straight down the sewer, into the period that was best when living it and worst after I got some medication for my state. C'est la vie.

@NOG: For someone of your particular faith, you sure know a lot about the minds of the young. Social isolation is a serious issue.

@Nataraja: Whaddayamean, last I checked the DnB/HHC/Psy/Goa/Ambient guys were pretty good DnD players, or at the very least enjoyed a good game of Paranoia. At least around where I grew up.

@coineineagh: You *offend* me on a level very deep, with your presumptions and opinions. However, I do not feel a need to comment on your person, for I feel your posts have done that more than adequately. Just *know* that you know *nothing* of mental disorders.

 

No offence, but some of you guys do sound like you were losers at high school. I would probably have teased you.

Except Splunge of course.

 

After reading the posts I wonder if those who had problems in High School are more apt to post than those who did not have problems or are the majority of SP regular posters very nerdy and therefore tended to be subject to bullying and rejection by the other students.

I hated grade school so much that Jr and Sr High School was a welcome change. I discovered mathematics and on the whole found it much more interesting and fun.

The overall average intelligence of my class was the highest of all time and we were considered the most delinquent. A couple of years latter a cousin's class beat us in both areas.

We had teachers that we liked and respected and we behaved in those classes but in the classes were we had no respect for the teachers we were pretty wild.

Remember that this was in the dark ages when the teachers could still throw us to the saber toothed tigers. Get punished at school and the chances were you would be punished at home.

My class also held the record for NOT having a girl student need to quit school to get married or leave for far places for reasons not explained but known by all.

 

The highest of ALL TIME? Wow! Nakia, you must have gone to Genius School. No wonder you are so wise all the time.

 

The highest for that school which was a small town school in a farming area. We did have some very smart guys and gals, including me. To me what was interesting was that the nerds of the class which included one guy who was also very good at sports really did want to learn even in the disrupted classes we tried and even managed to learn something.

We had a great science teacher in Jr High, a lousy one in Sr High. A great math teacher for both. A great history teacher in High. Lousy English teachers. A sicko for our Latin Teacher (the only language given at the time). A phys Ed teacher/coach who the girls all had a crush on and I think the boys did too although they called it something else.

The administrators messed up the class scheduling for my Freshman (9h grade) class and those of us who were college bound had to take Biology instead of the required General Science. So they (the administrators) give us a dispensation from General Science.

Our principal pushed us all to take at least one year of typing. I hated it and managed to pass by cheating. I admit it, I cheated. Only course I ever cheated in. Oh, the one good thing one of our lousy English teachers did was spelling. He caught up with the fact that this brilliant class couldn't spell and had regular spelling bees.

We lost one English teacher because she lost her cool and beat up one of the kids. Wow, I remember that scene vividly. Poor woman just got hysterical and forgot to throw him to the saber toothed tigers.

 

I'm starting to think that DotW may in fact be Ender Wiggin.

 

The only time I was ever interested in school was during English and Music lessons. I bumbled my way through the rest without putting in the effort I should have. Still passed all my exams but I could have done better.

I can pretty much pick up any instrument and learn to play it in a couple of hours so music lessons were always fun for me. Most of the time I was allowed to do as I wanted (although I did get asked a few times to teach small groups which sucked).

I love to read so English was always fun, I got to sit and do what I love for a few hours while the rest of my class were stuck trying to figure out words with more than 3 syllables!

 

Funny, I was thinking more Peter Wiggin.

Nakia, I think it's a combination of factors. These boards do seem to draw out the nerd/geek crowd, but at the same time, it is those that were scarred who have the most to say. Also remember (as you pointed out) you were raised in a different time from the rest of us (in many ways a more civilized time) not to mention a small town school. I'm guessing that, if a girl had been gang-raped in one of your classes, the defendants wouldn't even have survived to see a trial. These days they get small time, if that.

 

I think most of the members of this board are interesting, accomplished people. I believe it points to the fact that, in the scheme of things, high school is a fairly meaningless experience. I don't say that because I partied my way through it, but because most everyone here has been to college and done pretty well. I don't know when was the last time that anyone asked me what my GPA in high school was, but it usually comes up about college.

By the time I got to college my big-time party days were behind me, for the most part. But I knew a lot of those who did really well in high school, and were expected to be good students, bust out with the crazies in college and fail-out. And they don't hold your hand in college like they do in high school. Once you fail, you fail and it's over.