High School Reminiscing

[beantownbubba]

Judging by the thread in the DBT forum there seems to be a lot of demand to talk about the subject, so I thought I'd start a thread. Have at it all you jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, sluts, musicians, theater kids, greasers, hippies, stoners, earth mothers, rich kids, exchange students, bussed in kids, princesses, degenerates, druggies, bullies and kids next door...

Edited to add a few more categories

[Tequila Cowboy]

I hated high school for the most part. That's all I have to say about that.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I was lucky enough to leave high school after tenth grade. I did finally get my degree in 2005, which makes my resume look younger than I really am. I'm kind of sorry, though, as my career went straight into the toilet thereafter. My favorite memory (right now) was the day in tenth grade they decided to give the guys hair-length checks and I managed to get a couple of strands slightly over my right ear, which got me sent to the principal like almost everyone else. By that time the next year, my hair was down close to my shoulders and I was growing a sparse bead. A year after that, I would have looked natural on stage with ZZ Top.

[allisonsdc]

I hated high school for the most part. That's all I have to say about that.

Me too. There's a column that runs along the side of the page in the yearbook from my senior year with the heading "Memories of CHHS" and each student's quote was printed alongside their photo. My quote simply states "How much I hated it." I stand by that assertion 23 year later.

[Beebs]

If I could have someone heat up a coat hanger with a crack lighter and poke me in the brain right where all memories and awareness of say… 12 to 20 years old are, I would in a second.

So, yeah. Not so into the reminiscing.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I hated high school for the most part. That's all I have to say about that.

All these many years later (I graduated in 1980) I'm in touch with very few of my high school classmates and that's just through FB. Even then, most of those are folks from my hometown so there's more than just a high school connection there. I'm in much closer contact with my college classmates. Since tracking many of them down, we've got together every year for the past 5 years or so for reunions. I've only been to one high school reunion but then again, there hasn't been that many since our classes were so small. In fact, the one that I did attend was for 3-4 grades, not just one.

[Beebs]

[Tequila Cowboy]

I hated high school for the most part. That's all I have to say about that.

All these many years later (I graduated in 1980) I'm in touch with very few of my high school classmates and that's just through FB. Even then, most of those are folks from my hometown so there's more than just a high school connection there. I'm in much closer contact with my college classmates. Since tracking many of them down, we've got together every year for the past 5 years or so for reunions. I've only been to one high school reunion but then again, there hasn't been that many since our classes were so small. In fact, the one that I did attend was for 3-4 grades, not just one.

I went to my ten year reunion (graduated in 1979) and am in touch through FB with probably half dozen people but oddly none of them were friends in hs, acquaintances at best. Lost touch with my few good friends from there a long time ago. However starting in my junior year I worked at a McDonald's in a neighboring town and high school and those friends I'm still close with to this day. i connected more with those people for some reason.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

It's become sort of a cliched thing to say now but when I first got on FB I got Friend requests from people I was never friends with in high school so I'm not sure why they would want to be my friend all of a sudden. And even some folks that I was friends with were non-receptive. I wrote to one friend several times in an effort to catch up but after several months of getting no reply, I hit the delete button.

[Tequila Cowboy]

It's become sort of a cliched thing to say now but when I first got on FB I got Friend requests from people I was never friends with in high school so I'm not sure why they would want to be my friend all of a sudden. And even some folks that I was friends with were non-receptive. I wrote to one friend several times in an effort to catch up but after several months of getting no reply, I hit the delete button.

A few years ago there was an "all seventies" reunion and a couple of people friended me and nearly begged me to come. Neither of whom were close friends in HS. It was odd. I blew it off and went to see DBT instead, I think it was the first year of Georgia Theater shows.

[Zip City]

I've had a ton of high school classmates friend me on FB, but every 3 or 4 months is purge the people I no longer have any interest in. It's why my friend list is always under 200 people

[Kudzu Guillotine]

It's become sort of a cliched thing to say now but when I first got on FB I got Friend requests from people I was never friends with in high school so I'm not sure why they would want to be my friend all of a sudden. And even some folks that I was friends with were non-receptive. I wrote to one friend several times in an effort to catch up but after several months of getting no reply, I hit the delete button.

A few years ago there was an "all seventies" reunion and a couple of people friended me and nearly begged me to come. Neither of whom were close friends in HS. It was odd. I blew it off and went to see DBT instead, I think it was the first year of Georgia Theater shows.

When I attended my 20 year HS reunion in 2000 no one expected that I would actually come. I'm glad I did but chances are, that's the last time I'll ever see most of those people. It definitely beat the virtual "catching up" folks tend to do through social media.

[Iowan]

High school was fine. Not great, not awful. My buddies and I were part of the group that played sports, but weren't necessarily "jocks", got decent grades but weren't the shining academics, and liked to party but weren't necessarily the hardest partiers (I always advocated more alcohol and drug use, but I only played one sport and didn't have as much to lose on that front). We got along with pretty much everyone. My high school wasn't real prone to bullying either. There were some stereotypical "popular" kids, but they were just the people whose parents let them throw parties, and there were the "losers" who were generally awkward looking or nerdy, and kept to themselves. But you didn't see the one group ostracizing or mocking the other much either. They just didnt interact much at all. Most drama was inter group, if you will.

I would rate high school as "ok". I'm in no hurry to relive it, but I definitely didn't hate it.

[ramonz]

High school was fine. Not great, not awful. My buddies and I were part of the group that played sports, but weren't necessarily "jocks", got decent grades but weren't the shining academics, and liked to party but weren't necessarily the hardest partiers (I always advocated more alcohol and drug use, but I only played one sport and didn't have as much to lose on that front). We got along with pretty much everyone. My high school wasn't real prone to bullying either. There were some stereotypical "popular" kids, but they were just the people whose parents let them throw parties, and there were the "losers" who were generally awkward looking or nerdy, and kept to themselves. But you didn't see the one group ostracizing or mocking the other much either. They just didnt interact much at all. Most drama was inter group, if you will.

I would rate high school as "ok". I'm in no hurry to relive it, but I definitely didn't hate it.

Iowan, we may have gone to the same high school....

[Markalanbishop]

High School sucked balls. Bishop, out.

[John A Arkansawyer]

I don't have a single friend--relatives, yes--from before the age of eighteen. When I left, I left. I saw my first girlfriend a few times over the years, talked to her on the phone almost five years ago when the wife and the kid and I were back in my town, shortly after my dad died, showing the daughter where I grew up. I'll call the guy who owned the farm equipment dealership my dad worked out of when my mom dies, and my dad's favorite coon-hunting buddy's wife, if I can find her. I wouldn't mind seeing some of them again, just like I wouldn't mind meeting my birth mother. That's it for my early years.

Actually, there is one thing I'd like to do: Talk to the black kids from my sixth grade class the year we integrated. I still remember both the boys'--men, now--full names, and the girls' first names, and somewhere, I think I have the school directory with their old addresses. I'd like to ask them a couple of things.

[PonyGirl]

Judging by the thread in the DBT forum there seems to be a lot of demand to talk about the subject, so I thought I'd start a thread. Have at it all you jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, sluts, musicians, theater kids, greasers, hippies, stoners, earth mothers, rich kids, exchange students, bussed in kids, princesses, degenerates, druggies, bullies and kids next door...

Edited to add a few more categories

As you've left out "punk rock horse girls," I'll have to go with "princess degenerate."

Oooohhhh... you meant princesses AND degenerates...

Don't care. Still sticking with princess degenerate, as it comes closest to describing high school me (and perhaps current me).

High school was pretty crazy; I had a lot of great times, but I also had some truly horrible, devastating times...

[beantownbubba]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

No, no, I may not have said princess degenerates but sans doute that's a category as you have so ably demonstrated, PG. And I didn't mean to be exclusive, so if any of you belong to other categories, don't be shy. For example, it didn't exist in my neck of the concrete woods (in HS or college), but isn't there a HS equivalent to ROTC?

[Cole Younger]

It's clear to me that a lot of people have pretty strong feelings about it one way or the other. Sort of odd in a way. I think it's hard for a lot of people but once it's over, who cares?

My memories of it are a mixture of good and bad but mostly it just seems like something I just had to do and move on from. Folks really seem to carry it with them for good or for ill.

[Zip City]

High school was okay, nothing major. Junior High was more trying for me, and you could make a movie about my sophomore year of college (in fact, I almost wrote a screen play about it)

[Tequila Cowboy]

It's clear to me that a lot of people have pretty strong feelings about it one way or the other. Sort of odd in a way. I think it's hard for a lot of people but once it's over, who cares?

My memories of it are a mixture of good and bad but mostly it just seems like something I just had to do and move on from. Folks really seem to carry it with them for good or for ill.

It wasn't my favorite time but I rarely even think about it. The best part was being on a swim team that prior to my junior year had never won a single meet (yes, I was on some of those sophomore and freshman years ) getting a new coach and losing once junior year and going undefeated my senior year. The coach was then fired for overshadowing the football team. The good news was that he went on to make awesome "family trees" of history and Rock & Roll.https://burtonhistorytrees.com/ . Oh and in high school he used to play Rock records during our practices until the admistration made him stop. Thanks coach.

[Beebs]

It's clear to me that a lot of people have pretty strong feelings about it one way or the other. Sort of odd in a way. I think it's hard for a lot of people but once it's over, who cares?

My memories of it are a mixture of good and bad but mostly it just seems like something I just had to do and move on from. Folks really seem to carry it with them for good or for ill.

Not everybody had your experiences during those years. Odd to you perhaps but some may have good reason to have strong feelings.

[jr29]

High school was fine. Not great, not awful. My buddies and I were part of the group that played sports, but weren't necessarily "jocks", got decent grades but weren't the shining academics, and liked to party but weren't necessarily the hardest partiers (I always advocated more alcohol and drug use, but I only played one sport and didn't have as much to lose on that front). We got along with pretty much everyone. My high school wasn't real prone to bullying either. There were some stereotypical "popular" kids, but they were just the people whose parents let them throw parties, and there were the "losers" who were generally awkward looking or nerdy, and kept to themselves. But you didn't see the one group ostracizing or mocking the other much either. They just didnt interact much at all. Most drama was inter group, if you will.

I would rate high school as "ok". I'm in no hurry to relive it, but I definitely didn't hate it.

Akmost 100% the same here.
My high school was so small that if you wanted more than 4-5 friends then you couldn't get too caught up in the jock, redneck, nerd thing.I did not attend my 10 year reunion a couple years back and don't suspect I will attend any in the future.

[Flea]

High school was fun. I tended to get in minor trouble spots out of boredom (read that as the classes were too damn easy). Lotsa fun times doing theater productions and dungeon mastering D&D campaigns for the other geek boys. The world certainly seemed smaller and more solvable in 1982.

[Cole Younger]

It's clear to me that a lot of people have pretty strong feelings about it one way or the other. Sort of odd in a way. I think it's hard for a lot of people but once it's over, who cares?

My memories of it are a mixture of good and bad but mostly it just seems like something I just had to do and move on from. Folks really seem to carry it with them for good or for ill.

Not everybody had your experiences during those years. Odd to you perhaps but some may have good reason to have strong feelings.

You assume far too much. I didn't get out totally unscathed and I have a very good understanding of what makes those years hell for some people. My own sister had a rough go of it. If it matters to you, check out what I posted on the same topic in another thread. All I mean is, years later it would seem like it would lose its hold on people. But in a lot of cases it lingers in terms of how people feel about themselves and that's too bad.

[John A Arkansawyer]

All I mean is, years later it would seem like it would lose its hold on people. But in a lot of cases it lingers in terms of how people feel about themselves and that's too bad.

It is too bad, but I don't see any way around it without making what's good also fall away. I mean, making high school a better experience would help, and let's get that done quick before my daughter* gets there, m'kay? But it's just human for us to feel things deeply, good things and bad things alike.

*By the way, some of you may remember my concern about the kid in my daughter's grade who'd said something about killing her. The kid is definitely troubled but it doesn't seem focused on her. The school is aware of it and doesn't seem to have a clue how to help. They do have armed guards on campus. Gee, thanks.

[Smitty]

Our ten year reunion is in August.
I was mostly a weirdo artsy guy, obsessed over music and occasionally fucked up. I wrestled and came in second in state my freshman year, though I was far from a jock. I was pretty popular though, was good friends with every "stereotype" (and there was definitely something John Hughes-esque about my school).
Racial tensions were EXTREMELY hot during my high school years, though. Like most rural southern districts, each little community in my county had an elementary school but once you got to seventh grade you went to the county high school; I'm from Fruithurst, Alabama, which just in the past 4 years got it's first black resident, so I was kind of regarded a racist based on my little town's past as soon as I walked in the door. When I was in tenth grade, rumors started floating around that the most popular girl in school, the homecoming queen/all that shit, was secretly dating a popular black football player (football was king at my school). During homecoming, someone (actually a senior and a forty year old jackass) spraypainted "n*gger lover" on the popular girl's truck. Although I wasn't a racist and hung out with as many black people as I did white, that monday a group of black guys saw me and I assume since I was from Fruithurst, they decided they'd send a message. Now I'm a tiny dude still, but I was even smaller then; these guys were all 6' or more and basically monsters compared to my little ass. I was at the trade school (half a day we would go to another school where we would learn trades like welding/auto repair/carpentry etc) just walking to class when I get jumped from behind and get the shit beat out of me. Broke my nose, fractured my orbital bone, bruised my ribs; they did a real number on me. That actually started this whole big thing, but it really didn't have much to do with me. I was just a unfortunate guy who got caught up in the middle of it. It was around this time that they banned the confederate flag from school; you could no longer wear any clothing with it on it. It was all a bunch of stupid shit, but the rednecks (of whom many of them were my good friends) made it a huge deal and it was just one incident after another. Although it's gotten better in the past few years, I've heard that my high school has always had really volatile race relations.

[LastLawson]

Spent 2nd half of 10th grade in a physical high school. Meh.

This thread isn't fostering any regret about not staying longer.

[beantownbubba]

Spent 2nd half of 10th grade in a physical high school. Meh.

This thread isn't fostering any regret about not staying longer.

Regrets?? Aren't you still in high school?

[LastLawson]

Spent 2nd half of 10th grade in a physical high school. Meh.

This thread isn't fostering any regret about not staying longer.

Regrets?? Aren't you still in high school?

Haha... it's complicated. My last two years of high school were spent in university, counted for both; "dual-enrollment". Just graduated HS, and have two years left for my Undergrad. And yet I left out the s...