What were you like in high school? I'm not doing a poll here

[JimmyJazz]

because that leaves too little room for discussion and it doesn't lend itself to an actual description, but only a label.

Here's me (don't laugh). I was totally mousy. I never had detention, never caused any trouble. I had only a handful of close friends. I was a gymnast, so I looked much younger than my age which means I never dated. I was very shy and never raised my hand in class unless I had to go to the bathroom. I got good grades, but never really applied myself. I was never in any cliques and I most certainly was not considered "cool" by any stretch.

To this day, if someone remembers me from high school, I am shocked and amazed because I honestly thought no one knew who I was.

[RevolutionaryActs]

1. "never caused any trouble."

Well that the hell happened? :P

[JimmyJazz]

6. Shit - I realized that wasn't getting me anywhere, so why not

try to have some fun. Seriously. I was being the person my mother wanted me to be. I don't like my mother. :P

[RevolutionaryActs]

12. Well I'm glad you started having fun!

Who else would dare me to do bad things? :evilgrin:

:hug:

[JimmyJazz]

26. Thanks cutie!

If my mother could see me here, she would die a thousand painful deaths at the thought of her daughter actually drawing attention to herself :P dammit - I love DU :evilgrin:

[GOPisEvil]

2. I was a quiet, nerdy type.

I'm still sorta quiet, and kinda nerdy, but I'm MUCH cooler now than then. :D

[OffWithTheirHeads]

52. Man, I was da bomb!

Sold dope to the black kids for far less than they paid in the hood (kept me alive cause they didn't like honkies all that much)
constantly challenged the premise of the teachers, wrote an essay on the word fuck and got an a on it, My girlfriend was the student body pres, got my picture in the yearbook with a zig zag shirt on. rolled the best dubes in school.

To be fair, this was Mission High in San Francisco, in the 60's. It is an inner city school and while my peer group was reading and discussing Nitchze and Sartre, most of the kids couldn't read Dick and Jane. I guess we were the intellectual elite but that didn't take much.

On the other hand, I haven't changed much. Still raise hell, get letters to the ed published on a regular basis, Get on the news at local protests against the Neo Nazi's, just don't look as cute!

[sasquatch]

3. I was like "Angus"

[tk2kewl]

4. I was most versatile, most artistic, student body treasurer, . . .

played football, ranked 4th in my class, drank too much, smoked pot, had fist fights with my father, etc.

[mr_hat]

5. BMOC. Jock, musician, semi-scholar, protector of the meek.

[bowens43]

7. I was a 'freak'

[OffWithTheirHeads]

64. God, I love your sig line

nt

[OffWithTheirHeads]

65. In fact, I like it so much that

I'm stealing it. Hope you don'y mind.

[flamingyouth]

8. I was sort of nerdy, caused a mild amount of trouble

Edited the paper, was in honor society and played soccer. :) (On edit - I was voted "Most Individualistic" by my fellow seniors.)

[JimmyJazz]

13. That's great! I think I was voted most "what was your name again?"

:P

[qnr]

9. Only went for 3 months n/t

[Longgrain]

14. ME TOO!

Until i was sent to that school for misfits...

VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY LONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG story...

[qnr]

42. um, is that kinda like the reform school I spent 12 & 13 at? :) n/t

[Longgrain]

50. Not exactly

school for teens dealing with behavioral problems and mental illness.

I really didn't belong there either, but I kind of got shoved there...I was the good kid there O8)

All the concealers loved me...

[JimmyJazz]

16. Why is that? If you don't mind me asking?

[qnr]

34. Started hitch hiking across the country instead. Wasn't really

learning anything I hadn't already picked up on my own anyway. Yes, I know that I /would/ have learned new things had I stayed. And that it would have been a an opportunity to learn socialization skills (which I happen to be horrible at). However, it was a rather rambunctious High School in downtown Manhattan (Seward Park HS), and I just wasn't interested. I've never regretted the decision, it started me on the road to having been in/on all fifty states and seven continents :)

[JohnKleeb]

10. You were shy?

[JimmyJazz]

15. Painfully so. If I had a conversation with someone, I would

replay it in my head a million times to reassure myself that I didn't say anything "wrong."

[JohnKleeb]

17. I am not as shy as you were

Hey if you can change, so can I.

[Longgrain]

18. Me too...

:hi:

[JohnKleeb]

21. hell guys you guys make me feel out going lol

because if I was really introverted, I would have not ran out of model congress today singing Legalize It.

[Longgrain]

27. I've written an entire novel about being shy

It's not an easy thing to deal with.

I'm talking about mumbling when you talk, not being able to look someone in the eye, praying no one will talk to you so you don't have to answer. Doing outlandish things to get someone's attention...

It's PAIN!

[JohnKleeb]

29. not being able to look someone in the eye sigh I know that

[Longgrain]

55. To this day, and I'm 32 years old!

Sigh.

[intheflow]

40. OMG, I still do that!

I keep waiting for it to go away with age, but no luck so far. x(

[JimmyJazz]

47. Here's the key - no one is as focused on you as you -

what you think of as a major blunder, no one else has noticed - they are too busy worrying about what they have said - get it? Once you learn that, life becomes much more fun.

[intheflow]

60. Wait! You mean--

it's NOT all about me?? Years of counseling and all I really needed was one chance encounter on DU with JimmyJazz. Geesh! Who'da thunk it?

[JimmyJazz]

66. Gimme your address, You'll get my bill.

:P

[OffWithTheirHeads]

61. This is soooo soooo true!

Most people spend soooooo much time worrying about themselves that, contrary to popular belief, they hardly ever notice you!

To prove this, take the time to actually listen! Most people don't! While someone is rambling on about themselves, try, just try to interject a salient point. Good luck! They are much more interested in impressing you than actually listening to you. This observation alone, should teach you why you don't need to be shy.

[Longgrain]

11. A pseudo-hippie poser book worm

I wasn't very pretty in high school...

[Fenris]

19. Art-punk

Dressed in suit jackets and t-shirts from bands that no longer existed. I had dyed black hair, thick framed glasses, and listened to the Smiths a lot. I hung out with the smart rebellious kids. Thus, there were about 7 of us. Took AP liberal arts classes. Sucked (and continue to suck) at math and science. Spoke German fluently. Didn't kiss a girl until I was 18. Bored beyond belief.

[JimmyJazz]

25. My punk phase came after high school - but even then, I have

to admit that it sort of happened because I wasn't comfortable with the "in" crowd. Punks are misfits after all - and that was me :)

[Bouncy Ball]

79. You described the kind of guy I would have fallen HARD for

in high school. Oooo, I loved the artsy, mysterious, intellectual types.

[johnnie]

20. Let's see

Well, I was the only one that I knew that the school sent to juvenile court. If that says anything. Of course I knew others that they kicked out of school.

[Feathered Fish]

22. I went to a high school with 250 students

so if you were an outcast, you were noticed, which I was. I was quiet most of the time, but really opinionated in Social Studies. I had maybe 2 friends and spent most of my time acting misanthropic. I had a few run ins with detention, mostly for smoking on school property and one or two for fighting. The kids in my school had ridiculous amounts of money and most got luxury cars for their 16th birthdays. Not I, however. I was (and will probably always will be) a public transit grunt. Anyhoo - I still harbour unnatural resentment towards the kids in my class, but I'm getting over it slowly. Kids can be damn cruel.

[CO Liberal]

23. I Was a Long-Haired Hippie Freak

As proof, here's my Senior Prom photo from June of 1971. I'm the handsome dude in the tux.

[tk2kewl]

95. Excellent!

[Huckebein the Raven]

24. Quiet....kept to my self somewhat

-never socialized with anyone outside of school (exception being track)
-got pretty good grades
-Did track for a year
-never dated nor did I go to my prom...going to an all boys private Catholic school didn't help either.

[RevolutionaryActs]

28. I find this thread biased.

What about us home schoolers? :silly:

[barb162]

31. okay, okay, what were you like in home school?

[RevolutionaryActs]

37. Like I am here.

:P

[JimmyJazz]

35. They don't count! Listen here missy, I have never had a flame

war in one of my threads - don't think you're gonna start one now! I will make you miserable, if you do - now knock it off :spank:

[RevolutionaryActs]

39. ROTFLMFAO!

:7

[Longgrain]

36. I had a very non traditional High school Experience too Rev.

Went for about 3 months before being expelled...kind of went back for a year.

I dropped out of high school at 16...

but I was always proud that I receive my GED 3 days before those I went to Junior High with received there dipolomas...

[name not needed]

30. well, I'm still in high school, so

I'd probably say stoner/metalhead. I do good in school, but am dumb as a rock. I don't study or put in more time then I have to. I'm kinda lazy, and spend most of my time either playing bass or doing dumb shit with my friends.

[asthmaticeog]

32. Nerd/punk hybrid.

Not exactly a friend-magnet thing to be in 1980s Ohio. I got disaffected and let my grades go all to hell, got in lots of low-end, boring trouble for mouthing off at authority types, yadda yadda.

I haven't so much changed, really, but I HAVE grown into it. ;)

[intheflow]

33. Theater-Geek/Partier/Class Ho

Seriously! That was me! Couldn't be bothered with academics, although I was an intense bookworm at heart. I just wanted to study what I wanted to study.

Starred in every play. Sang solos with the chorus. Honestly believed in my soul that true artists must suffer.

Did every drug available.

Slept with everyone. Got knocked up at 17, and then I was out of that childish high school scene and experiencing some serious grown-up suffering by the time my friends were all graduating.

But what the hell--it worked out for the best. And now the class ho is becoming a radical left-wing minister working for peace and justice! Woo-hoo! Take that, Jerry Falwell!

[JimmyJazz]

41. .

:toast: Ya done good for yourself and you should be proud! Besides, what this world has WAY too few of is radical left wing Christians - which seem silly, since Jesus was a left winger ;)

[intheflow]

46. I never said I was Christian.

But I do love that radical brother, Jesus. I just don't believe he was divine and rose from the dead, or that his mother was a virgin. That just sounds like early church propaganda to me. :)

[Zuni]

112. That was the candid post of the day!

Good for you.

[JohnKleeb]

38. Ok since I am still in

I am generally introverted but cane be extroverted. I am shy as hell with the girls but I can get along with mostly anyone. Plus I love being silly as hell. I sometimes say stuff I shouldnt but ahh well, and when I think about it, singing Peter Tosh's Legalize It after offering my support of legalizing pot in model congress as Whip, but hey I think its good that people know that while I am knowledgable and a bit of a nerd, I know how to have fun.

[intheflow]

54. Nerds have the most fun.

I spent most of my life denying my inner nerd. It's been very liberating to embrace it now that I'm older--and a lot more fun!

[SOteric]

43. I went to a Jesuit run prep school.

Was active in journalism and the school paper, and a member of the debate team, chess club and a distance runner. I was cute and popular and had a steady sweetheart.

[JimmyJazz]

101. Some things haven't changed much for you.

;)

[SOteric]

106. Yes, I still have a deeply valued

membership in the chess club. ;-)

[kohodog]

44. commie yippee kid

with a penchant for the dead, orange sunshine and Mickey Mouse t-shirts.

[miss_kitty]

45. never dated, but my best friends were guys

took a lot of drugs. hated my school. didn't show up except on coke, speed or pot the last year. missed the yearbook pics. never been to a reunion. never went to a prom.

[JimmyJazz]

49. Dayum sweetie - and they let you graduate anyway????

:P

[miss_kitty]

57. yeah

i took the tests and did the assignments. But fuck em I was 18. I wrote my own notes from January to June my senior year.

[TlalocW]

48. I was the math/science/computer geek

In a small farming community in Kansas, and I reveled in it. I was openly disdainful of most of my classmates and school spirit, and I had a quick wit and a smart mouth and would gladly tell the jocks and the assholes who tried to make my life miserable that I was going to ruin the curve of the upcoming test so I hoped that they had good enough grades in their other classes to keep them on the team, and I always sat alone in the lunch room, preferring it.

I was also in band (which meant I was in marching, pep, jazz, and concert) and would put a book in my shaker (marching band hat) to read when we were in the stands instead of pay attention to the game, which we always lost anyway. Reading sci-fic books and offering suggestions of "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "Send in the Clowns" as songs to play during halftime were not appreciated by the upperclassmen band members.

Then I shocked everyone by lifting weights and becoming one of the biggest guys in class and then going out for wrestling my junior and senior years. I also raised the most money for our Junior Prom (we sold magazine subscriptions) and then didn't go, and when people got on to me for that (which I couldn't understand why), I told them flat out, "I didn't do it for you. I did it for the prizes. I went jogging that night." :)

I always maintained a good relationship with the teachers though and never caused trouble, and that helped me avoid getting a red-belly from the band upperclassmen the last day of my freshman year. And surprisingly, my best friends were two of the most well-liked guys in our class, but they just hid their disdain better than I did.

Years later, I found out I inspired a lot of underclassmen to be themselves, and some teachers would compare the more unique ones to me years after I had graduated.

TlalocW

[OffWithTheirHeads]

71. Go dude!

One of the things I am always facenated by is kids who come up to me and tell me how I affected their lives, and all I ever did is just not give a shit what other people thought of me.

[TlalocW]

74. Yeah, I didn't realize it either

Until my senior year, and there were several times when I felt like a stand-up comedian making fun of the cool kids in front of a bunch of under-classmen. Plus, I think some of them were appreciative that I understood them. Hell, when I was a senior, there were two freshmen kids in band that I thought were downright hilarious.

What's even funnier is that one of the guys who was compared to me in high school ended up going to the same college as I did so we were partners in crime there. He also once told me that apparently a lot of the student government association were afraid of me because they were always worried that I would show up whenever they held a meeting in one of the dorms and give them hell... I guess it was fortunate for them that I was normally either studying or in the weight room. :)

TlalocW

[SarahB]

51. I was a bitch.

I actually wasn't a bitch, but I was quite attractive and more introverted than extroverted, yet spoke my mind when called for, had strong political views, and didn't play silly games. Therefore, I was a bitch. I was never though of that prior to high school, but I had to move from my safe girl's prep school in Omaha (not that it was safe, we were pretty naughty, and you had to be a little bitchy just to survive) to reasonably large, suburban Connecticut public high school.

Anyway, I had my core group of friends and some from several little groups. I dated a few people. I never quite fit, but wasn't exactly a "misfit". Sort of like now I suppose. :shrug:

[JimmyJazz]

59. I wasn't considered attractive in high school which probably

in the long run, benefited me. I've never used my looks to get my way. I've always had to rely on my personality, my looks fell in line with that. Which in a way, I suppose is nice, because, since everyone ages, I've been very comfortable with acquiring gray hair and a few wrinkles. I dunno, I think on a lot of levels, average looking women have the advantage over "lookers" because we learn to define our self worth in more realistic and long lasting ways.

[SarahB]

68. In my 20's,

... when I was having my children, I kept putting on poundage and more poundage for awhile and then people treated me very differently then they did then (or do now). I had to learn to redefine myself in new ways. It's weird, but until I was truly comfortable with who I was on the inside and faced certain truths, the weight wouldn't budge either. Now, as a see a few littles lines here and there and some squishy spots I would have obsessed over in my youth, I don't sweat it anymore. If not for that experience and time in my life, I may have been an entirely different person. I can't say shallow because I never was really. Maybe just less appreciative of things because I didn't have to work so hard for them.

[SarahB]

100. My further addendum...

I was thinking about this last night, but I had already shut off the computer, so I'll say it this morning. What I may have not properly conveyed in my original message was that I wasn't at all a "bitch". I was, in fact, just a person who ended up being judged as so because I was a person of opinions who didn't quite seem to fit the mold in regard to my internal and external qualities and so others liked to make that assumption. It didn't help that I didn't grow up with those people either. I'm not in any way a shallow or mean person and I don't want to be perceived by anyone as such.

[miss_kitty]

69. I totally agree 100% with what you say, JimmyJazz!

:thumbsup: that's never happened before!

[sundog]

53. sounds like me

except I wasn't a gymnast. I was in the band.

Actually, it's not like me at all. :7

And I had several social cliques, which I moved through as I grew.

And I got really poseur/goth about midway through high school. I had previously been relatively preppy... I was the first in my urban area to "go black," so it created much controversy & scandal. :P

I was mocked for a Smiths tape I brought to school. A guy in my Chem class commented that the guy in the cover "looks like a fag." And he always called me a fag. But I guess he had good gaydar... takes one to know one :eyes:

I was in Honor Society, got good grades... all the time knowing it was complete bullshit.

I had a really, really mean French teacher who made students cry. She would terrorize the class & I would occasionally sneak in & set the reel to reel tape deck to super fast speed as a token revenge on behalf of my comrades. That earned me one hair on my chest. Eventually she was dismissed for her cruelty & replaced by my Favorite. High School. Teacher. Ever. She even cooked us a traditional French meal at her house :bounce:

I was completely in love with a girl who was after a guy on the *A List.* Still, she was my soul mate & we would get drunk & listen to The Cure....but that's another story altogether.

I often grew sullen & withdrawn... but not much has changed in that department. :)

I discovered clubs at a young age. I also did more several things I cannot post here. :evilgrin:

I didn't get stoned till 19... so that goes in the "Sundog Revolution" chapter, following this one. :smoke:

[Nikia]

56. I was positioning myself to escape from it

I got nearly straight As with the exception of A- in accounting. I was the high scorer on the quiz bowl team my junior and senior year. I was in band and always participated in solo and ensemble contests. I was on student council for a couple years. I was in National Honor Society. I was in plays everytime our school put one on. I ran track and cross country and set school records in both. I won several awards. I was the first person from my high school to score honors on all parts of the senior Ohio proficiency test. I was also a very prolific writer.
Outside of school, I was very involved in church.
Socially, I always stood on the outside. I think that I could have had very good friends if I hadn't been so achievemnet oriented. There is so much more to life, but I didn't see it then. I had to escape my world that was holding me back. And what if I loved all the children that I had to say good bye to?
I didn't get into trouble at all. That would have been detrimental to the goal and all that was important was the goal.
In another year, I will have my tenth class reunion and I think that I'll make an effort to go.

[Aristus]

58. I should copyright this answer; it says so much:

I was the nice guy that all the girls liked, but didn't want to go out with.

B-)

[New Earth]

62. oh man

i was a mix. i was usually pretty quiet, only spoke in class when i had something really important to say - i did very well throughout most of it, got straight A's for 11th grade, then mostly A's/B's the rest of the years (sometimes C's, an F in gym freshman year :( )

so yeah, i was pretty quiet - but i had a lot of different friends - kind of a few from each 'group'. i never got suspended or anything, but i was known to start trouble once in a while. :crazy:

oh, and i partied a lot of course :bounce:

[SW FL Dem]

63. Shy quiet, smart

I was pretty much a goody two shoes. No drinking, no drugs, honor roll, president of the math club. My idea of rebellion was wearing really short skirts (wish I still had those legs). The least likely thing I did was being a cheerleader my junior year.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

67. I was very low on the social totem pole in my snobbish suburban

high school.

Between having intellectual interests and having very strict parents, it was hard to make friends.

College was a real relief, and graduate school was even better.

[GRLMGC]

70. I was a drama person

I was well-behaved, had good grades and didn't participate in much other than drama. I loved being in plays. I wanted to be an actress. Strangely enough, I didn't really like the people because they were predisposed to and LOVED drama (no surprise there). I'm not particulary fond of conflict so they annoyed. I also got annoyed by the ones who tried to hard to be different and weird. I'm a film studies major now so I see a lot of the same kind of people.

[Misunderestimator]

72. I was pretty much the book-worm ostracized type... pretty weird...

caring more for opera than rock, a bit awkward and not very attractive... Graduated second in my class and was pretty much unpopular except during tests. :) I was successful in geeky pursuits like band and choir and debate, and I won some state vocal competitions, but no one in my little Texas town gave a shit. I hated high school. Life has been SO much better since then. Thanks for asking. :)

[JimmyJazz]

84. My life is way better since high school. I know some people who

think high school was their "shining moment." I feel nothing but pity for them.

[Redneck Socialist]

73. Confused mainly.

Still am, mainly.

I was a Stoner/Metal Head who was smart and got good grades so what trouble I caused tended to be overlooked. I was an artist so I was accepted by the art crowd, half the jocks were stoners too so I was OK in their book and I liked comics and roleplaying games so I could hang with the geeks too.

I pretty much saw high school as a big joke and treated it as such. I was never challenged academically. Joined no clubs, played no sports yet seemed to get along with everyone.

On a whim I got up during a school assembly and gave a speech nominating Ziggy the cartoon character for student president. Why? Who knows, I thought it would be funny and it was. I think his platform called for beer to be served in the cafeteria. Those that took student government seriously were pissed and apparently Ziggy went on to get a bunch of votes.

That act gained me a measure of notoriety which paid off as senior year I was elected to give a speech at graduation. I wrote a speech excoriating the school administration, was counseled that it was too "negative" but went ahead and gave it anyway.

I don't miss it and I've never been to a reunion.

[driver8]

75. I was a jock and a partier...

I played football, hockey, and baseball so I had a lot of "jock" friends...the cool crowd. I also smoked pot then so I had a lot of friends who were "stoners." I could pretty much hang with anyone in high school -- even the band geeks!

On a side note, our school teams were "the Stoners." (That is true)

[Hardrada]

76. It was funny because my friends were

Cool, much-beloved and I was not on the A list. Possibly because I had "highbrow tastes" (not cool for a guy) and also because I had a political activist edge not common in those days and would have gotten clobbered for being a JFK supporter except one of my brothers was a jock and had big friends who would cheerfully manhandle any of my detractors. Otherwise I was mainly in band and chorus, student newspaper, yearbook etc. Chorus was prestigious.

[njdemocrat106]

77. With the exception of gymnast, I was pretty much like you

I was never popular, and I never was that good looking in my opinion. I guess I was a "goody two-shoes" because I never got detention or got suspended (but I got detention many times in Catholic elementary/middle school, each time because I forgot to do my homework, which was never a big deal in public HS). I never spent much money on clothes (actually, I still don't), so I definitely wasn't a fashion plate. I've never done drugs in my life (all the anti-drug propaganda shoved down my throat obviously worked :) ). I never was in any clubs or sports either (I'm anything but athletic, and I've always been chunky). I never had any friends who I hung out with either. Somehow, I managed to make it through 4 years of High School.

[JimmyJazz]

82. .

:toast: to the average person in HS

[njdemocrat106]

86. Yes! To the average person in HS...

:toast: :beer:

[Bouncy Ball]

78. Hmmm

well I had a disturbing home life to say the least, so I never talked about it.

I was really pretty cute (I've seen the pictures) but my self-esteem was in the negative range.

I was fairly quiet. High B average. High school bored the shit out of me, academically speaking.

I dated a lot, though. A whole lot. Different boyfriend every week, LOL! Dating was fun!!! Football games, dances, formals.

I was what I called a "Floater." I refused to limit myself to just one group of friends so I had friends from almost every group in the school. I took honors classes and a lot of the popular kids and geeky kids were in there.

I made friends with the "ropers" (cowboy types), "groovers" (think The Cure, black clothes, etc), people in shop, people a breath away from dropping out, student council, athletes, you name it.

I was especially fascinated by people who normally flew under everyone's radar. I honed in on them, much to their horror.

I was on the newspaper staff, becoming editor my senior year. Which meant I could take all three lunch periods to say I was "selling ads" and go get the buffet at Pizza Hut with Todd and Holly, then sit in his Impala and smoke pot.

I had a wild side, but kept it VERY carefully hidden. My teachers would have been SHOCKED to know anything about me. I was the picture of goody two-shoe-ness.

[JohnKleeb]

80. hell most of my classmates would be shocked to know how I am sometimes

People think I am a goody good but I just believe in common courtsey and respect.

[Skittles]

81. I went to high schools in England, Iowa and Illinois

was too busy worrying about surviving to even remember "how I was".

[JimmyJazz]

83. I have always wondered what it was like for the kid who had

to stand in front of the class mid-semester and be introduced as the "new Kid" --- My parents were so adverse to change that that never happened to me. I was NEVER the new kid. That had to be hard as hell, though.

[Skittles]

88. imagine moving from England to a farm town in Iowa

imagine moving 13 times before going to high school

imagine my poor mum doing this with a load of kids and she did not know how to drive

hard to imagine isn't it?

[JimmyJazz]

91. No - it's not hard. It's impossible for me....

I can't even begin to comprehend what you went through and I won't pretend to try to understand. Did it make you closer to your siblings? It seems they would be the most steadfast people in your life.

[Skittles]

93. well here is a hint

my brother drank himself to death last Thanksgiving - at his funeral the priest said Glenn had "overcome unimaginable hardships" - I felt like standing up and screaming I ENDURED THOSE HARDSHIPS TOO AND NOW I AM HAVING TO ENDURE THIS.

Argh, it SUCKS.

[progmom]

85. Dear diary...

In high school, I was involved in everything, and so for awhile, I had trouble finding one group I fit into. I played almost every sport (tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball), but didn't fit in with the jocks because I was also in the gifted and talented (read: total geek) program, played in all the bands (marching, jazz, orchestra) and sang in all the choruses. Oh yeah. And I was Student Council Treasurer and a member of the French club.

I always got good grades - high honors - but some teachers would send home negative progress reports because I never did any homework. Looking back, I'm not sure if I was bored or lazy or maybe a combination of both, but I just preferred hanging out in my room listening to records to doing homework. I applied myself just enough to get the grades.

I was just starting to find my groove in 10th grade. I gave up trying to fit in with the cool jocks and started hanging out with the band geeks -- skipped gym and study hall to play euchre in the band hall every day.

But midway through 10th grade my folks moved us to the Netherlands. That was a culture adjustment. High school was very different over there. I was enrolled in an international school that was being subsidized by Philips - the city's biggest employer. All of the students there were either current expats, or in many cases they were Dutch kids who had started their schooling outside of the country and wanted to continue in English.

Our studies were based on the British O-Level system, followed by the International Baccalaureate program, and my slacker method of applying myself just enough to get by did not cut it there. I crashed...hard. But strangely enough, I must have learned something, because when I got back to the States, college was a breeze!!
In Holland I really stood out as a goody-two-shoes. I was the only one in my class who didn't smoke (I am not exaggerating here -- EVERYONE else in my class smoked), and I wasn't much of a drinker. Since they even had drinking at school functions, well...I kind of stood out. But I made some amazing friends, many of whom I am still in contact with today.

[InvisibleTouch]

87. Lived in my own little world.

My own flights of fantasy were much more interesting to me than the completely incomprehensible society around me, which struck me as mindless, shallow, hostile, and impossibly alien. It's not that I was forced out of the mainstream - it's that I stepped out. It's less that I wasn't accepted by my "peers," but that I didn't care to be. Gee, not much has changed. ;)

Well, one major thing has changed, of course. I have greater power today to create my own world, than I did then. And when I get to feeling really depressed about my life, I look back on those horrible high school years, or see a school bus going by with its hopelessly captive contents, and realize that I don't have it that bad today, after all.

And another major thing has changed. I've long since stopped feeling the obligation to do what I was "supposed to." I'm doing my own thing now. There's no going back.

[grace0418]

89. I was half honor-roll nerd, half punk rock girl

both were fatal in my high school

[Wapsie B]

90. A total wallflower.

I didn't date and had a few close friends. But most of the time I kept to myself. Hasn't really changed a whole lot. I was an introvert with no real social life to speak of.

[Seabiscuit]

92. Very introverted, very quiet, very intellectual, yet very popular.

Go figure!

[clyrc]

94. I went to five different high schools

and I was very, very shy. My grades were horrible, partly because I moved a lot and partly because I was sick with asthma and allergies and a weak stomach (I was constantly vomiting)but really I didn't care much about grades. I made a few friends and I had the same boyfriend through most of high school, but I dated other people, too. My two biggest passions were reading and daydreaming. Food and travel were also important, and music of course.

I don't daydream so much, and I'm not as shy now. I'm a lot more daring and certainly less inhibited. The Asthma seems to be gone, the allergies are better, and I almost never vomit. But mostly I think I'm a lot like I was then, 18 years after high school.

[HEyHEY]

96. A mouthy bastard - to those that deserved it

[kodi]

97. jock/stoner/politically active/science geek/greaser

intersected with all crowds; oddly that's what several of my classmates pointed out at my last HS reunion.....that I could not be pegged into any one sub-group.

i was a pot smoking athlete with politically active hippie friends and science buddy geeks and worked on cars with my greaser buddies. i bridged the gap with a lot of people with nothing in common but my frienship.

no one ever fucked with me. i was friends with just about everyone. i kept the jocks off my geek and hippie buddies and let my greaser friends cheat off of me in math classes.

i dated the class validictorian and my best buddy in high school wound up on the fbi's ten most wanted list.

go figure.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

98. Very academic and eccentric.

I was kind of strange. Most people that weren't close friends with me seemed to not know what to think of me. I was a good student and generally a good kid that stayed out of trouble, but some people seemed to think that I led some kind of double life based on the type of people I hung out with at the time. I had some friends that weren't great students, but they were very intelligent people. I also had some friends that were considered the "bad kids" because they skipped school a lot and used drugs. I never was a school skipper, and I never used drugs, drank alcohol, or smoked cigarettes, but amazingly many people thought I did those things. The rumors about me were much more interesting than my actual life. I thought it was kind of funny. I guess everyone in school knew my name and face, but very few of them actually knew who I really was.

I did have a lot of fun in high school. One of my best friends and I would dye each others hair a new color every 3 to 4 weeks. My biology teacher likened me to a chameleon once because my hair changed color so much. We would also frequently wear outlandish outfits to school for fun. I think I got a lot of attention for the way I chose to dress and do my hair, which was unconventional. I think a lot of people also attributed my eccentric sense of style and sense of humor (this friend and I were sort of pranksters sometimes) to drug use, which is another reason why everyone seemed to think I was secretly a "bad kid".

I ended up being Valedictorian of my graduating class. A lot of people were surprised by this because I wasn't an ass-kisser. I guess usually Valedictorians are ass-kissers. Also, I wasn't into drawing attention to myself for my achievements, because I thought doing so would seem conceited. No one was really aware of how well I was doing in school because I rarely talked about it.

So, overall.. I was a very nice, responsible, well-behaved, good student who also happened to be a little bit eccentric. That is basically who I was.

[gardenista]

99. Arteest. Anorexic. Asocial.

Thank God I stopped taking myself so damned seriously!

[Magrittes Pipe]

102. I pretty much got along with everybody -- except the assholes, that is.

Pretty much like now! :D

I was the kid in the rock & roll band who smoked a lot of reefer and drank himself stupid a lot, and made everyone laugh, and STILL couldn't get laid because I always built up some illusion over one particular girl at a time (who was always, for some reason, unavailable).

I was a good (but not great) student who tested well. When I wasn't getting high/drunk or listening to loud music, I read Aristotle for fun. The teachers let me get away with a lot, because I could talk to them like an adult (when I wasn't busy choking Jeff Becker till he turned blue with his own tie, after he looked at me funny).

I carved "LOVE" and "HAT" into my knuckles with a broken metal pen cap once, when I was bored in History class. It was supposed to be "love" and "hate," but once I got "hat" carved in there, I decided it looked too cool to fuck with any more.

I got peed on by a pig on a field trip once. Yes, in Southwestern Ohio, schools take field trips to pig farms.

My friend Tom and I used to get drunk in my basement on weekends, then walk up to the grocery to steal cigarettes. We bought beer at the Swing Inn, which accepted library cards as valid IDs. We committed random acts of vandalism, but we usually felt bad about it the next day.

I was chosen president of my Economics class' Junior Achievement company, from which I embezzled $70.

I'm sure I did some other stuff, too.

[loudestchick]

103. I was involved in theatre and Forensics/Debate. I was on student council.

I could blow the curve on almost any test...but I didn't do homework. I used to do the tango (w/ the dip)down the halls w/ a good friend (why'd I let him get away?) I was a member of the AFS club and hosted an Italian hottie in my home for 2wks during my senior year. I worked at the "cool" restaurant w/ all the cheerleaders and pretty girls...

I met my best friend when we were interviewed for our highschool paper after she and I were named National Merit Semi-finalists...we hit it off. She later told me that she'd *known of* me for years...but had made a concerted effort NOT to meet me...I gave smart people a "bad name". LOL

I had a "good" steady boyfriend, who I cheated on mercilessly w/ all the bad boys.

[progmom]

104. kick

...because I'm finding all of these answers really fascinating and want to read more!

[Lavender Brown]

105. I had a large group of nice friends, but nobody particularly close

to me, and I only have a few that I still talk to now. I was quiet and mousy too. I didn't go to my own prom because I was too shy to ask a guy friend who wasn't in my grade, who would have said yes if I hadn't been too embarrassed to ask. :( I was studious and was mostly known for my grades, but socially I was such a wallflower so not many people knew me that well personally. I liked joining clubs and stuff but didn't find anything I really enjoyed and stuck with. I joined a team and only lasted one semester in it. I was really more of a geeky, solitary writer type. :)

[Chovexani]

107. I was a freak.

Still am, actually. Never had any friends, used to get beat up a lot even though I basically kept to myself. I was harassed about damn near everything about myself: the way I dressed, the music I listened to, the fact that I always had my nose in a book, etc. Nothing much has changed since then, except now I've got other people to be weird with so it's not so bad.

[fit4life]

108. Major geek

I was 5'6" and 90 lbs when I graduated. The only thing that saved me was a killer sense of humor that let me hang on the fringes of cool people and saved me from daily beatings.

I went to my 15 year reunion a couple of years ago (I skipped the 5 & 10 years) and nobody recognized me at 6'5" & 200 lbs. It was a lot of fun!

[bikebloke]

109. Wallpaper

Quiet and shy. Terrified of speaking aloud in class, which is why I never became a Hollywood film star. Mixed with the various cliques. But maybe they weren't that strictly defined.

Last year, my high school had its 50th anniversary and put on a fest. As I wasn't doing anything that day, I dropped by. First time in there since graduation 30 years ago. Felt weird. It was after high school and college that I went out into the world and had some real adventures. Those are the days I'm nostalgic over.

[redqueen]

110. An outcast.

Didn't have the right clothes, didn't do anything my hair, didn't do anything to get noticed... just tried to avoid getting teased. And to top it off, I was perceived as smart, but didn't apply myself, so even my teachers hated me.

It was a living hell...

[JimmyJazz]

113. But, you've got it all together now.

:pals:

[redqueen]

115. Awwwwwwwww

Thanks, you.

:hug:

[ProfessorGAC]

111. A Walking Contradiction

Honor student, athlete (Basketball, Track and Golf), on the debate team and in the chess club, but played in a rock band. Then after being mugged in a parking lot downtown, i had a reaction formation into a street fighter. (That only lasted to age 18.) But, i never let that change my behavior in mixed company or at school.

I was a geek, a jock, a punk, and a rocker, all at the same time. Go figure.
The Professor

[Beer Snob-50]

114. I was Manager of the Student Store

as well as President of the Business Club.

[NewJeffCT]

116. I was voted Shyest in my high school class

I think we had around 100 people in my class.

I was very quiet, never dated, never got in trouble and hardly talked to any girls. I think I had part of a beer right at my high school graduation, and a few years earlier, I had had one when a bunch of the guys went to a drive-in movie (Airplane 2, I think) Never smoked or took any drugs.

I ran cross country one year, was in the D&D club another year, and was the scorekeeper & statistician for the boys and girls hoop teams. I was pretty geeky.

I had a few friends from the D&D club, and at least the jocks respected me because I was their scorekeeper.

Not very memorable for me.

[fudge stripe cookays]

117. I had two different high school personas

The first two years at an Austin high school where I knew some of my friends from growing up in the same neighborhood, etc. I was a typical teenager-- awkward about myself, but relatively comfortable under the circumstances. Made good grades. Had a friend who got her mom's car on the weekends and we hung out, cruised, made out with cute guys, tried smoking and booze. It was like Freaks and Geeks. Exactly. But unlike Lindsey, I was an English and Art Geek. It even looked like this guy I had a crush on and I might get to go out in the future.

THEN

The horrific second two years-- a brand new school in San Antonio where I knew no one, was shy as hell, could not talk to any of the guy s(because they were entirely too "cool" to look at me), and basically hated everything about my life. Nearly suicidal. I became a bookworm, because having my nose always stuck in a book was easier than actually having to interact with people. And it sent a message: "Leave me alone." Didn't go to prom. Had one date. The month after I graduated. And he went to a different high school.

Fortunately, I picked a college as far away from San Antonio and my mother's fucked up relationship (the reason for the SA move) as I could without being in Oklahoma.

College ruled. I came completely out of my shell, blossomed, and became very devil-may-care in my attitudes about a lot. Now I have heard the words "vivacious, passionate, flippant, and beautiful" applied to me in the past.

High school is the most hellish experience a kid can experience. Thank God it only lasts 4 years.

FSC

[JimmyJazz]

118. I certainly can't respond to all these posts - that's too much for even me

but I have read every one of them so far. It's been very enlightening. Thanks. :hi:

[yellowdogintexas]

119. Bookworm; mostly "A" student, few dates, no steady boyfriends

but lots of good friends. Ran with as close to an intellectual crowd as we had in my school. Even back then I loved a good joke more than anything, though

Didn't follow fads to speak of, basically conservative dresser, and I

COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF MY SMALL TOWN AND GET TO COLLEGE.

[dolo amber]

120. Ever see "The Breakfast Club"?

Remember the Ally Sheedy character...?

:hi: :D