The High School Meme
May. 19th, 2007 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plumtreeblossomI swiped this meme from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trowa_barton because I seldom think about high school, and mention it even less, so this gives a bit of my history.
1. Who was your best friend?:
All through high school (and college and young adulthood) I had a string of male best friends, most of whom I was in unrequited love with, and all of whom would later discover they were gay. The first of these was a boy named Michael, who was a year ahead of me. I was constantly in his company, and I pined and pined for him while playing the "best pal" role, certain that some day, he's see how wonderful I was, gaze into my eyes, and realize he loved me. He graduated and was off to Dartmouth, while I cried and pined and applied to colleges near Dartmouth (but not Dartmouth itself; I was a slacker student). During my senior year, I found a new best friend named Steve, the only one who I was never in unrequited love with.
2.What sports did you play?:
None, none and none -- I hated sports then as now.
3. What kind of car did you drive?:
I didn't drive.
4. It's Friday night, where were you?
Out with friends, probably doing something involving beer. The thing about we 80s teens was that we got away with a lot more in the alcohol department than the generations that have followed. We would wait outside Wegman's supermarket, politely asking young adults to buy us beer, and someone always did. Then we'd go somewhere and drink it, or ride around in somebody's dad's car and drink it. It was just the way it was in those days, in our community. By senior year when my 10:00 PM curfew was lifted, we would sometimes go to Rocky Horror.
5. Were you a party animal?:
To the extent to which I could. We kids had alcohol and pot, but no access to any harder drugs (which, in retrospect, was a very good thing). All I wanted was to fit in, to have a group, and the partying facilitated that.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
Not really. In high school, I wanted very much to have boyfriends, but it was my choice to avoid having sex until I was at least 18 and out of high school. That made flirting a bit pointless. I enjoyed kissing, could tolerate 2nd base, would suffer through 3rd base in disgust in order to avoid 4th base, but 4th base was right out. Mostly I would just fantasize about being adored by my unrequited loves, though. I didn't have the confidence or the sex drive to be a flirt in high school.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I joined the choir senior year, having finally figured out that being in the choir was the only way to get cast in the school musical. The choir did a trip to Canada. We drank lots of beer there. A girl named Laurie and I got piss-drunk, climbed a park statue, and sang patriotic American songs at the top of our lungs. *facepalm*
8. Were you a nerd?
Not particularly, but nor was I popular. Nerdhood didn't mean the same thing back then as it does now. Nerds weren't cool, and especially not girl nerds. Being a girl nerd was about as low a social station as anyone could have in our snooty upper-middle class suburb, where being a cheerleader was the polar opposite. I was in the lower half of the social strata, perhaps even lowest quarter, but not rock bottom. Now I'll bet a lot of those nerds are millionaires.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled?:
I got one day of in-school suspension for smoking a cigarette in the girls bathroom (which was an entirely unnecessary risk to take when the school provided a student smoking lounge in the parking garage. I got what I deserved.)
10. Can you sing the fight song?
If there was one, I wouldn't have known it. Or if I had known it, I would have made up parody lyrics mocking the school jocks.
11. Who was your favorite teacher?
I should have listened more to Mr. Hazlett. He was by far a wiser human being than any teacher I'd had before.
12.What was your school's full name?
Pittsford-Sutherland High School.
13. School mascot?
Knight.
14. Did you go to Prom?
I didn't go to my Junior Prom because Michael, my unrequited love, took another girl, and I decided very vocally that all Proms were ostentatious shows of wealth and classism that I wanted nothing to do with. Steve took me to my Senior Prom, because no one else asked me.
15. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Although, if I had to do either high school or middle school over, I'd pick high school.
16. What do you remember most about graduation?
My yellow cap and gown, taking pictures in the garden, wishing I could go off to college right away and not have to wait a whole summer.
17. Where were you on senior skip day?
The school finally cracked down on that tradition the year I was a senior, so we didn't have one. But basically every day was senior skip day because we had an open campus and could wander into town or to the canal at will.
18. Did you have a job your senior year?
Very briefly I had a job at a mall clothing store called Anderson-Little, but I called in "sick" so often that I got fired.
19. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Usually I would get salad bar in the cafeteria and eat with friends outside or in the hallways. Once a week or so we'd walk into town to eat in a little mom & pop restaurant.
20. Have you gained weight since then?
Only a tiny bit. I could probably still fit into my high school sweaters and tops, but not likely the pants.
21. What did you do after graduation?
Went to Bradford College. But in the summer between graduation and college, my parents briefly got back together (this was a BAD thing, not good) and I had to spend that summer in the outskirts of Harrisburg, PA at my dad's house. I got to leave in September, but my poor brother had to go to a genuine hillbilly school, and ride a short bus to get there. They re-divorced within two years, fortunately.
22. When did you graduate?
June 1982. Before a few people on my flist were born.
23. Who was your Senior prom date?
Gay Steve.
24. Are you going to your 10 year reunion?
It's long in the past, and I didn't go.
25. Who was your home room teacher?
We didn't really have home room, except on the first day of every school year. No other recollection of it.
26. Who will repost this after you?
Maybe people who like sharing a slice of their personal history. I don't tag for memes though, so don't feel obligated.
trowa_barton because I seldom think about high school, and mention it even less, so this gives a bit of my history.1. Who was your best friend?:
All through high school (and college and young adulthood) I had a string of male best friends, most of whom I was in unrequited love with, and all of whom would later discover they were gay. The first of these was a boy named Michael, who was a year ahead of me. I was constantly in his company, and I pined and pined for him while playing the "best pal" role, certain that some day, he's see how wonderful I was, gaze into my eyes, and realize he loved me. He graduated and was off to Dartmouth, while I cried and pined and applied to colleges near Dartmouth (but not Dartmouth itself; I was a slacker student). During my senior year, I found a new best friend named Steve, the only one who I was never in unrequited love with.
2.What sports did you play?:
None, none and none -- I hated sports then as now.
3. What kind of car did you drive?:
I didn't drive.
4. It's Friday night, where were you?
Out with friends, probably doing something involving beer. The thing about we 80s teens was that we got away with a lot more in the alcohol department than the generations that have followed. We would wait outside Wegman's supermarket, politely asking young adults to buy us beer, and someone always did. Then we'd go somewhere and drink it, or ride around in somebody's dad's car and drink it. It was just the way it was in those days, in our community. By senior year when my 10:00 PM curfew was lifted, we would sometimes go to Rocky Horror.
5. Were you a party animal?:
To the extent to which I could. We kids had alcohol and pot, but no access to any harder drugs (which, in retrospect, was a very good thing). All I wanted was to fit in, to have a group, and the partying facilitated that.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
Not really. In high school, I wanted very much to have boyfriends, but it was my choice to avoid having sex until I was at least 18 and out of high school. That made flirting a bit pointless. I enjoyed kissing, could tolerate 2nd base, would suffer through 3rd base in disgust in order to avoid 4th base, but 4th base was right out. Mostly I would just fantasize about being adored by my unrequited loves, though. I didn't have the confidence or the sex drive to be a flirt in high school.
7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I joined the choir senior year, having finally figured out that being in the choir was the only way to get cast in the school musical. The choir did a trip to Canada. We drank lots of beer there. A girl named Laurie and I got piss-drunk, climbed a park statue, and sang patriotic American songs at the top of our lungs. *facepalm*
8. Were you a nerd?
Not particularly, but nor was I popular. Nerdhood didn't mean the same thing back then as it does now. Nerds weren't cool, and especially not girl nerds. Being a girl nerd was about as low a social station as anyone could have in our snooty upper-middle class suburb, where being a cheerleader was the polar opposite. I was in the lower half of the social strata, perhaps even lowest quarter, but not rock bottom. Now I'll bet a lot of those nerds are millionaires.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled?:
I got one day of in-school suspension for smoking a cigarette in the girls bathroom (which was an entirely unnecessary risk to take when the school provided a student smoking lounge in the parking garage. I got what I deserved.)
10. Can you sing the fight song?
If there was one, I wouldn't have known it. Or if I had known it, I would have made up parody lyrics mocking the school jocks.
11. Who was your favorite teacher?
I should have listened more to Mr. Hazlett. He was by far a wiser human being than any teacher I'd had before.
12.What was your school's full name?
Pittsford-Sutherland High School.
13. School mascot?
Knight.
14. Did you go to Prom?
I didn't go to my Junior Prom because Michael, my unrequited love, took another girl, and I decided very vocally that all Proms were ostentatious shows of wealth and classism that I wanted nothing to do with. Steve took me to my Senior Prom, because no one else asked me.
15. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Although, if I had to do either high school or middle school over, I'd pick high school.
16. What do you remember most about graduation?
My yellow cap and gown, taking pictures in the garden, wishing I could go off to college right away and not have to wait a whole summer.
17. Where were you on senior skip day?
The school finally cracked down on that tradition the year I was a senior, so we didn't have one. But basically every day was senior skip day because we had an open campus and could wander into town or to the canal at will.
18. Did you have a job your senior year?
Very briefly I had a job at a mall clothing store called Anderson-Little, but I called in "sick" so often that I got fired.
19. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Usually I would get salad bar in the cafeteria and eat with friends outside or in the hallways. Once a week or so we'd walk into town to eat in a little mom & pop restaurant.
20. Have you gained weight since then?
Only a tiny bit. I could probably still fit into my high school sweaters and tops, but not likely the pants.
21. What did you do after graduation?
Went to Bradford College. But in the summer between graduation and college, my parents briefly got back together (this was a BAD thing, not good) and I had to spend that summer in the outskirts of Harrisburg, PA at my dad's house. I got to leave in September, but my poor brother had to go to a genuine hillbilly school, and ride a short bus to get there. They re-divorced within two years, fortunately.
22. When did you graduate?
June 1982. Before a few people on my flist were born.
23. Who was your Senior prom date?
Gay Steve.
24. Are you going to your 10 year reunion?
It's long in the past, and I didn't go.
25. Who was your home room teacher?
We didn't really have home room, except on the first day of every school year. No other recollection of it.
26. Who will repost this after you?
Maybe people who like sharing a slice of their personal history. I don't tag for memes though, so don't feel obligated.
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Date: 2007-05-20 01:30 am (UTC)