High School Memories
I got this from Jhianna who got it from someone else. Looked like fun to answer, so here it is….
1. Who was your best friend?
My freshman year was Curtis. His dad got transferred to somewhere in Oklahoma. I really miss Curtis. I wish I could track him down someday. My sophomore year, I was pretty much in self-exile and avoided as many people as I could. My junior year, it was very, very few people that I could deal with (or that could deal with me.) However, Katie and Heather were there for me through it all. They cared for me like no one had ever cared for me before. If it wasn’t for their love, I’m not sure I would have survived. My senior year, I finally came out of my shell (actually, Heather broke me out of it during the summer between Jr. and Sr. years.) I had so many friends (and we were all outcasts together) that I really can’t pin one of them as a “best” friend, but J.J. ended up being my best friend for several years until the lure of drug abuse sucked him back in. I had to cut ties with him, and that was a very painful thing to do.
2. What sports did you play?
I played tennis until just before my freshman year, and I was pretty good at it. I was as good as the guys that were rich enough to have their own private coaches. I often wonder where I would have gone with that had I had the proper training, and not had my arm mangled in a car wreck right before my freshman year. During the rest of high school, I skateboarded, but there was no “team” or anything like that.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
For most of my high school days, I drove a ’67 Chevy step-side, short bed truck with a rotted wooden bed, off-road tires, and a top speed of 57 miles an hour if I was going downhill. Part way through my senior year, it died a horrible death (transmission), and it was replaced with an ’81 Chevy Citation that lasted me through the rest of high school.
4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
Usually at home doing homework, programming on my computer, reading a book, or planning the next day’s gaming session at Bases Loaded. We’d play Warhammer 40k, AD&D, Paranoia, Champions, or Battletech all day on Saturday. To arrange this, I had to work 5 AM to 10 AM at Albertsons on Saturdays, so I was usually in bed pretty early.
5. Were you a party animal?
Nope. In my senior year, I would go to Larry’s apartment or house, and hang out where there was drinking and the occasional drug use. I would drink a beer or two, but not touch the drugs. I didn’t like most of the people there, and I didn’t want to lose control of my senses around them.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
Hah! Not at all. I’ve never learned the art of flirting. It’s just not in my DNA to be able to woo women in any form. I’m still not sure why Kiara chose to shack up with me. I was too embarrassed to even TALK to girls, let alone flirt with them.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I tried orchestra (violin) for a few years in elementary school, and I was smart enough back then to realize that I had no talent at all for anything musical. I never tried again, but I do tinker on my guitar at home from time-to-time. I’m not any good, and I don’t think that I ever will be. Maybe someday I’ll actually be able to play a whole song.
8. Were you a nerd?
I wasn’t a nerd. I was the nerd of the school. No one was more nerdy than I was. Chess team, Academic Decathlon, Physics club, French club, journalism (which was actually kind of a cool kid thing), yearbook, electronics club. Oddly enough, there was no computer club. It was founded a year or three after I graduated, but I would have been the uber-leader of the computer club had it been around.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Nope. Got sent to the principal’s office once for walking out on a class 10 minutes early because the teacher was being a total bitch. I even called her a bitch to her face. My only punishment was to sit in the office after school for 10 minutes to make up for the missed time. I showed up on time, and the principal (who we called “Coach J” for some reason) made me sit there a whole three minutes before he told me to go home.
10. Can you sing the fight song?
Nope. They did that at the prep pep rallies. I didn’t go to those. Until my senior year, we were allowed to skip them and go to the library instead. I did that. My senior year they banished that practice for some reason unknown to me. That’s when I started leaving the campus instead of going to them. I could have gotten in trouble, but any punishment would be better than sitting with the preps and listening to them talk good about themselves.
11. Who was your favorite teacher?
I had quite a few good ones. Here’s the list:
- Mr. Vetter — Freshman — United States History — Chess Coach
- Mrs. Setzer — Sophomore and Junior — French — Her and her daughter (Katie, see above) really helped me through my dark times on a personal level. She could have sent me to the counselor, but she showed me love and kindness herself. She cared. I knew she cared. I didn’t want to disappoint her, and that is one for the reasons that I didn’t take my life my junior year of school.
- Mr. Landrum — Junior and Senior — Computer Science — This man taught me more than I can ever categorize about how to think logically, how to program, and how to be a GOOD programmer. I would not be doing what I’m doing now without him. I would not be nearly as good at it today as I am without him. Last time I went home, I tracked him down and we had a nice meal together (my treat) to talk about random things. Sure, it was mostly computers, but we talked about school, and teaching, and all sorts of stuff. It was one of the best hours that I had while I was in Texas.
- Mr. Franks — Senior — Economics and Academic Decathlon Coach — Mr. Franks was one of my few teachers that, by default, treated everyone as an adult. We had responsibilities, and we had to meet them. Because of the respect that he showed me up front, I always gave him my best effort. He earned my respect by showing me respect, and doing anything less would be a huge sign of disrespect. He was also very open and friendly. He’s the kind of teacher that I would love to become.
- Mrs. Armstrong — Junior — English — Again, this was the darkest days of my life, and we always did free-associative, creative writing during the first 10 minutes of class. This gave me the bug for creative writing. It also gave me an outlet for my darkest thoughts, and that helped a bit. It also meant that she sent me to the guidance counselor at least once a week for fears that I may hurt myself. She was right. At the time, I resented the fact that she was right and was “intruding” on my life. Looking back, I’m glad she did what she did.
12. School mascot?
Bulldog. English Bulldog if I remember correctly.
13. Did you go to prom?
Hahahahahahahaahhaa…. Fuck no. Not at all. I had no desire to go. No one had a desire to go with me. Most people had a desire to make sure that I didn’t go. That’s probably a good thing. If I had shown up, I would have brought eggs.
14. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
no. No. NO. NO I can think of pretty much any kind of action in the world that I would rather do than suffer through that crap again.
15. What do you remember most about graduation?
I remember getting my diploma, walking halfway across stage, and the crowd applauding… then I remember hearing my mom screaming her head off. There were about 8,000 people in the stands, and I could hear her over everything else. Then I whipped off my cap, and headbanged for a few moments until I heard the principal clear his throat. I knew that was my cue to move on.
16. Where were you on senior skip day?
I was out with John SomethingOrTheOther, and Eric in John’s brand new Mustang 5.0. Yeah. He almost killed us approximately 9.7 times during that day. I’m not sure where we went, but we made a point to be anywhere else but school. One thing that I do remember is that I made it back to school for my computer science class with Mr. Landrum. Yeah. I know. I’m a nerd. I’ve accepted it, now you need to.
17. Did you have a job your senior year?
Not my senior year. I worked from my freshman year right until the start of my senior year. My grandfather wanted me to relax, enjoy my last year of high school, and improve my grades. I did all of that, and the first step was walking away from Albertsons.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Freshman year was on its own campus, and it was a closed campus. My sophomore year, I wanted to be away from everyone else, so I walked (open campus by this time) about four miles (one way) to a 7-11 to buy a nuked burritto and a Big Gulp that I would eat on the way back. There was a 7-11 about 5 blocks from the high school, but that’s where everyone else went, and I wanted to avoid them. I remember a guy that tried to befriend me (I’m really not sure why,) and to get rid of him, I walked faster on the day he wanted to go to lunch with me in order to leave him behind. It worked. My junior year, I had a vehicle, so I would drive as fast as I could to Burger King, eat as fast as I could, and get out as fast as I could. I was usually leaving about the time all the rest of the high school kids were arriving. I timed it perfectly. I’d then drive to a park and sit and read. My senior year, my friends and I would go to the youth center across the street for cheap food. On Wednesdays, we’d pile 10 people into my Chevy Citation and drive to Little Ceasar’s. They’d always ask for a name for the order and all 10 of us would yell out our names. It would confuse the poor people, so Vince started giving “Sid” as the name. When they would ask for a last initial, we’d always give “V.” I still use that sometimes.
19. Have you gained weight since then?
Oh yeah. I was 120 lbs. when I graduated high school. At the end of last year, I was up to 245 lbs. I’m down to 205 now. I never thought I would near 200. Ever.
20. What did you do after graduation?
I tried college, but that didn’t work. I had no motivation. No reason. I should have stuck with it, but I was 18, and wanted to live life, not sit in class. I ended up living life on my own by delivering pizzas. Yeah. I should have sucked it up and stayed in school. Ah well….
21. When did you graduate?
1991
22. Who was your Senior prom date?
Hahahahahahahahahaa…..
23. Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion?
I’ve already missed it. I didn’t even get an invite. Stuck up bastards. They’re probably afraid that I’m going to bring eggs. If I don’t get an invite to the 20 year reunion, I’m crashing the party.
24. Who was your home room teacher?
No such critter in my high school.
25. Who will repost this after you?
Don’t know. Probably no one.
