Am I really in the minority?

[markolas]

Why do I hear so many people blathering on and on about how they loved high school and wish they could relive it?

I remember being in high school and saying how much I wanted it to be over, and everyone telling me how much I would miss it and how it would never be the same, and I would wish I could go back to living with my parents, etc.

Well, guess what? It's 10 years later, and I have never missed it for a day. In fact, I look back and think that it really is a miracle that I made it through the first 20 years of my life without slitting my wrists. My hometown is one of the most racist, homophobic places I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing and if I ever make another trip there, it'll be too soon. My opinion of my family, teachers, and other students has not improved, either.

So are people who say they loved high school and living with their parents lying, retarded, on crack, or what?

[ontheEdgeof17]

I absolutely have no intention to ever attend a high school reunion, or relive the experience. When I go home to visit my parents, I hide and duck around public places so none of my former classmates will see me and try to attempt to get back in touch. I talk to one person from high school and that's it. It's a period in my life that did what it was suppose to do....I'm not stuck in it like some people I know.

[DrummerDeanna]

I don't think you're in the minority at all. I know more people who hated high school than didn't. I fall somewhere in the middle.

I had a great time, but was so lucky to go to the school I went to at the time I did. There were so many gay kids at each of the three schools in my town - at night and on weekends we'd all hang out at a local coffee shop...and I had band, yes, I was a complete band geek.

Now would I go back and do it again? No. No. and NO.

But I will be going to (and possibly planning) my ten year reunion - which is next year

[strandinthewind]

I loved my high school years.

I went to a Catholic school with about 120 in my class.

I played football.

I was in the band for about two years and was first chair trumpet.

I was in the math club because I played chess at the tournaments.

I had a great group of friends, most of which I still have.

Sure, there was hard times that I think anyone goes through. But, the good if not great times far outweighed those. Also, I am the kind of person who sees the bright side of most things and am not afraid to assert myself when someone messes with me. I remember being a freshman and taking on the bigwig senior football playes when one of them asked me if I wanted to open a florist shop when I graduated. I wasted no time in performing a verbal autopsy on him and after that, we were as friendly as a senior and a freshman can be

I had my 20 year (OUCH!!!!) reunion two Novembers ago and it was a blast.

I am sorry so many people lost out on those years.

I am sorry many did not like it.

[markolas]

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

I absolutely have no intention to ever attend a high school reunion, or relive the experience.

Yeah, that's kinda what set off this little rant. I discovered that there is a MySpace group devoted to my high school's class of '97 reunion. Why would I want to see any of these people ever again?

It's a period in my life that did what it was suppose to do....

Completely rob you of any semblance of self-esteem and self-confidence, which you spent the next 10 years trying to recover?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

. . . It's a period in my life that did what it was suppose to do . . . .

Isn't that the right thing to do? I mean would you be where you are today if you had not done the things a kid was supposed to do? Other than parents who are jerks, kids should listen to them

Of course, I grew up in the era of films like "Pretty in Pink," "Sixteen Candles," Breakfast Club," etc. -- which was great. Of course, I related to every character in the BC

[markolas]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

I had a great time, but was so lucky to go to the school I went to at the time I did. There were so many gay kids at each of the three schools in my town - at night and on weekends we'd all hang out at a local coffee shop...and I had band, yes, I was a complete band geek.

You're lucky. It was only years later that I found out I had gone to school with any other gay kids at all. And it was some of the very kids who used to call me names and harrass me that turned out to be bigger queens than I ever thought about being.

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Isn't that the right thing to do? I mean would you be where you are today if you had not done the things a kid was supposed to do? Other than parents who are jerks, kids should listen to them

Oh, god, don't get my started on my parents. Especially my mother. I think she's starting to finally get the message that I don't really want anything to do with her.

Of course, I grew up in the era of films like "Pretty in Pink," "Sixteen Candles," Breakfast Club," etc. -- which was great. Of course, I related to every character in the BC

Me in high school= Ally Sheedy's character in The Breakfast Club.

[BlackWidow]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

I don't think you're in the minority at all. I know more people who hated high school than didn't. I fall somewhere in the middle.

I had a great time, but was so lucky to go to the school I went to at the time I did. There were so many gay kids at each of the three schools in my town - at night and on weekends we'd all hang out at a local coffee shop...and I had band, yes, I was a complete band geek.

Now would I go back and do it again? No. No. and NO.

But I will be going to (and possibly planning) my ten year reunion - which is next year

Love the PIC!!!

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by markolas

You're lucky. It was only years later that I found out I had gone to school with any other gay kids at all. And it was some of the very kids who used to call me names and harrass me that turned out to be bigger queens than I ever thought about being.

I was lucky, and I totally realize that. It's not like that anymore from what I hear. And there was the share of assholes, some of whom are now gay. But all in all high school really did help shape who I am today. I still keep in touch with some good friends from that time, but I'm so glad that I've grown and moved on.

[bretonbanquet]

Originally Posted by markolas

So are people who say they loved high school and living with their parents lying, retarded, on crack, or what?

That could be kinda insulting... maybe their lives are just different

[JazmenFlowers]

I hated and loved my high school years all at the same time. I was very popular and involved...I was on homecoming court almost every year...always voted best dressed or most popular or some **** like that, but I secretly hated most of the people I knew. there were 4 or 5 that I really liked and cared about. but I also was dying to get out of a town with a population of 2000. no one else cared and they're all still there. I don't go home really either. at least not to where I went to high school. I don't really talk to any of them and don't really want to. they're just not in the same place I am. I had the occasional taunting, but I don't think anyone can escape that completely.

my 10 yr class reunion I guess is supposed to be in May. I haven't heard anything about one and don't plan to go to it anyway. sit and stare at the pastures and cotton fields and listen to everyone rave about their 10 yr old kids? yeah, I can think of better ways to waste a Saturday night.

[jannieC]

I actually hated high school (the school part), but I have very happy memories of the time itself. I was popular, but not in that annoying cheerleader way. I just hung with a cool crowd and my parents were cool enough to let me have massive keg parties on the week-ends. I was actually pretty devasted to have missed my 20th reunion last year. For me, those years bring back memories of a time when my family was together. My father was still alive (he died when I was 17) and my brother, sister, and I were all a part of each other's lives.

I can understand though how some people would have painful memories of high school and not want to go back. My memories are painful in a nostalgic way- does that make sense?

[estranged4life]

anything related to my high school years. So what I had a 3.4 GPA, I still felt like I was a prisoner in one of those cheesy ass 80's high school dating movies.

I made my Mom mad at me when I took my yearbook and torched it in the sink - even I after I told her I wouldnt (Like she was surprised in the first place)

I refused to attend the graduation ceremony because all it was was a jocularity contest for the rich kids to show off what their parents wasted $$$$ for 'em to receive as a graduation present (I made that mental note a year earlier when my cousin Wendy graduated) - So I refused to play that part and have NO REGRETS about me choice (Why walk a stage for a empty folder in the first place? The students had to pick up their diploma the next day anyways, so I was at the office at 6:45AM sharp, picked up my diploma & told the office staff to "f**k off" and left.)

I gave my cap & gown away to a fellow student whose family was also not in the higher financial bracket at my excuse for a high school/popularity contest.

I remember watching the punks/gays/nerds get the living **** beat of 'em by the jocks - and of course the teachers would turn a blind eye to it - That's just f**kin wrong!!!

I have received class reunion invites in the past (Next year I should get one for 20 years - B.F.D. ) and once I sent a reply that I would only attend if there was ample parking for my "Ryder Truck Bomb".

Sentimental? Not me, I would love to see that place in flames!!! Along with all the popularity assholes trapped inside with all exits blocked and/or boobie-trapped!!!

[sparky]

There were moments of struggle in high school for me. Freshman year was tough. Some people picked on me a little at first, but I got mad and got even pretty quickly. I was kind of a dork, in total shutdown mode, and had recently "broken up" with my best friend from 7th and 8th grade. However, it all got way better at the end of that year and the next year. I fell in with the drama freaks and started performing. Plus ran track for awhile. The other actor freaks provided a great refuge and I met some other people who played guitar and wrote songs so we would hang out and play onstage after school when there wasn't some play rehearsal going on. It culminated in a freakish senior year when it become hip to act and a number of jocks and popular girls decided they had to be in West Side Story. Heh, then they were on my turf and it was a fantastic turn of the tables. Tons of parties, drinking, cocaine, nights at the park, staying out till dawn. There wasn't that whole money competition going on. People I had been intimidated by because of their looks and popularity mostly revealed themselves to be decent and just as scared in their own ways as everyone else. Quite a lesson for all of us. There was a charmed element to it. There is a certain low grade of terror that comes with ending that period and moving on that can make people bond. For us, I think we all felt accepted for exactly who we were, and truly appreciated for our differences. It was fantastic. We all knew it. I have to say it was a good group. I remember that the lot of us were absolutely electrified by it and were completely conscious of the fact that it was a golden moment in time that would never happen again. The bawling and hugging and promises of our grad party were epic. And good god, it was a sexy and sex filled time. Booze and youth and horny 18 year old jocks - how can you go wrong with that? Well, I guess you could in myriad ways. I didn't, though.

The 10 year reunion was fun - not great, but fun. The 20, which was a couple years ago was a true riot. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Not because it was the most memorable night of my life. It was just a good benchmark lifewise. I enjoyed seeing what people had done. What choices they had made and how that contrasted with who they were 20 years ago or totally contradicted who they used it be. It was fascinating, and at the same time melancholic. The city is different. I am different. In fact, the Sunday I was waiting for my plane, the drive around my old neighborhood was almost enough to make me vomit. At one moment I had to park as I cruised around the old hood and past the high school. I still can't explain the feeling I had but it was as close to a panic attack as I have ever been. That part wasn't fun. But I am glad I did it. I know it was an important experience to have had. I can't say I necessarily grew as a person from it, or became better or stronger. But in hindsight I did learn from it. It gave me a sense of who I used to be and who I was that very day. Ultimately it gave gravity to my life. It lended the journey of the last 20 years a concrete, can't deny it kind of reality. The perspective it gave me was priceless. What happened after those years came into relief and made so much sense. Its rare to be able to sit and look back and understand why one's life became what it is. Knowing that can be extremely powerful. I think it might give us the abilitiy to steer the remaining years with more clarity and purpose.

High school was hardly the pinnacle of my life. I know it is for some people. For others, it is also the absolute low point. Either way, I don't think for anyone that the experience was without meaning. Its just up to us to figure out what that meaning is and to use it to our advantage. As they say, the unexamined life is not worth living.

[HomerMcvie]

^^^Whew, all that anger.(edit- dammit fast fingers Sparky.....I meant Brian's post).

Anyway, I had a ball in high school. Best.time.of.my.life. I'd go back and redo it in a heartbeat!
Friends. Parties. Fast cars. Fleetwood Mac.
Did I say best.time.of.my.life? Seriously.