Was this what the challenge meant? No, probably not. Have I ever met Sarah Palin? GOD no. But if I ever do... this is probably how it will go.... Mixed with a little bit of paint throwing for thinking it's okay to shoot wolves from helicopters.... and for shooting an elk on her reality show. If you people elect her as our next president I will destroy everything you love. Everything.
Day 20 - Talk about where you go/went to high school.
My high school experience is probably different from most people. The high school I went to was built directly across from my street, and it was built the year(ish) before I was supposed to start. I was not pleased.
I grew up in an extremely small town. My class consisted of maybe around 130 people, max. The town has no stop lights and one gas station. There was no such thing as "downtown," unless you count the 14 seconds it takes you to pass the elementary school, the old town hall, the fire department, and one of their 3(ish) churches. So, needless to say, everyone in our school system pretty much knew everyone else. And with a class that small, rumors and drama could spread like wildfire.
I was never part of the "popular" crowd. I lingered in the "middle class" social group... Not popular enough to fit in with the assholes, I mean, "preppies" as I called them, and not dorky enough to be good friends with the nerds. And this is not to say that I wasn't made fun of because I definitely experienced my fair share of bullies. Most of the teasing lasted from about 5th grade until maybe 7th or 8th grade for me.
Eighth grade was my social turning point. I gave up trying to win the friendship of the "preppies" and started to just focus on my own friends and my own social circle. Boys started to notice me, I started listening to more rock music, things were good... up until I discovered I would be going to high school in the same town. For almost forever my town would use the next town overs high school, but they had run out of room and kicked us out. That left the grade above me searching for a new school, and apparently pushed my town to build their own. I was devastated. I saw going to a different school as a way to start over, to meet new people instead of being around the same faces for four more years. I was even MORE upset when construction started across the street from my home. The grade above me ended up going into another towns, a much, much bigger towns, high school, but they, along with my grade, would be the first to enter into the new school when it was ready. Fantastic.
So my first year of high school there were only two grades, a freshman class and a sophomore class. That's it. I never had to experience the whole senior hazing thing because there WERE no seniors. The school was empty, but the nice thing about it was the bond that was formed between our two classes. Every year after that a new grade was added, so by the time I was a junior we had a full school.
Much like every teenager, I absolutely despised my high school and (almost) everyone in it. I tried very hard to be as anti school spirited as humanly possible. I skipped out of pep rallies, I refused to participate in spirit weeks, I even feared our mascot (a cougar) and ran from him if he came near me. I even went as far as refusing to date anyone from my particular town, which I stuck to for the most part. The only time I started developing a little bit of pride for my school was the very end of my senior year, and it was mostly because I was excited to be graduating.
Looking back on it, I realize that it really wasn't all that bad. I took a lot of fun classes there (mostly art, music and writing related), and they even allowed us to attend the vocational program at the high school we were SUPPOSED to be going to. I made a lot of good friends. I had a lot of good times, and now that I'm almost 25, I actually find myself missing it sometimes. Even though it was an insanely small school I feel like I actually benefited from it in the end. It potentially saved me from the chance of being bullied by the upper classmen. Instead, the bullying came to almost a complete stop (this may have had something to do with me becoming a goth child), with the exception of being called a lesbian through out my sophomore year (my friend and I would hold hands, this is what sparked the rumor. We would laugh it off and encourage it most of the time)... and I may have had a bit of a reputation for being "easy" during that time too which was completely untrue. I was just a flirtatious 16 year old, give me a break. But there was no point in time I was bullied to the point of wanting to kill myself. By the end of the 4 years almost everyone talked to everyone else in my grade, I even became somewhat friends with one of my major bullies from middle school. I feel like things like that may not have been possible had we gone to a bigger school.
High school was high school. Despite the size of it, it was almost the same experience as everyone else. I grew. I made mistakes. I hated it and couldn't wait to leave. Now, I'm a completely different person. I'd like to say that I would do it all again, but who would willingly place themselves back into the craziest part of their lives? What I can say is that I appreciate it more now than I ever could have then... I still think about all the good and bad times I had there... and I definitely miss it from time to time.
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