I was thinking back on my school career tonight. I don't think of school often, except maybe college, but for some reason it just popped into my mind.
What kind of person were you? Grades, attitude, friends, etc.
From elementary, all the way up through about sophmore year in high school, I was always a mediocre student, who was a class clown type. I hated my elementary school principal in Connecticut, and used to routinely see the inside of his office. My junior high school vice principal, used to love to roam the lunch room looking for troublemakers, and he always seemed to find me. He had a habit of twisting people's ears, and dragging them to the office by their ear. (Something that would probably be considered abuse today, but in the 1980s, well).
My mom tried to cajole me to do better, and my father, well, it just gave him fuel to lambast me about my attitude and my grades.
In high school, I had a problem in freshman year, and tried to get into the town's private school. I was rejected, and had to go back to public school. Sometime around that time, I even asked my high school guidance couneslor, who was also a shrink, to smell her feet during a session we were having. She said no, of course. (Crazy, I know. In fact, my friend and I visited her at her house shortly before I moved to Lancaster in 1999, and I was afraid she'd remember the incident, and say something in front of her husband. Luckily for me, she didnt. )
My parents took me for educational testing, to find out why I was so darned messed up. The tester told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was a very smart boy, who was not performing up to his potential. My father used to give me a very poor self image when I was growing up. Calling me ugly, mediocre, gay, (Not that there's anything wrong with gay, but I've never been, and never gave any indication that I was, but girls just didnt like me). I was thin, gawky, and rather ugly, for years.
After I had that educational testing, things changed. My grades improved, and I started to feel better about myself. I wasnt sure if I was even college material, and my SAT scores weren't great, but, I got in, and, when I got to college, things really took off.
I felt blessed to be in college, and absolutely loved it. My parents split, and my father and I estranged, in soph year, but, my grades were always very good, I loved my classes, and my professors. I would soak the knowledge up. Also, I was basically anorexic while my parents were married, and then after they seperated, I started gaining weight. (Who knew I'd end up fat, and with high BP).
In college, I had good friends, belonged to orginizations, and was basically happy, in the midst of a terrible divorce, and a long estrangement from my father. Finally, I had found my niche.
Sorry if this is a long rambling post. A lot of reminiscing here. So that's the question, How did you feel about school, and why? Oh, and by the way, the story about asking my high school guidance couneslor/shrink to smell her feet is absolutely true. I'm lucky she didnt call my house, or tell the Dean to suspend, or expel, me. Shows how I had a lot to learn.
Mitch
What kind of person were you? Grades, attitude, friends, etc.
From elementary, all the way up through about sophmore year in high school, I was always a mediocre student, who was a class clown type. I hated my elementary school principal in Connecticut, and used to routinely see the inside of his office. My junior high school vice principal, used to love to roam the lunch room looking for troublemakers, and he always seemed to find me. He had a habit of twisting people's ears, and dragging them to the office by their ear. (Something that would probably be considered abuse today, but in the 1980s, well).
My mom tried to cajole me to do better, and my father, well, it just gave him fuel to lambast me about my attitude and my grades.
In high school, I had a problem in freshman year, and tried to get into the town's private school. I was rejected, and had to go back to public school. Sometime around that time, I even asked my high school guidance couneslor, who was also a shrink, to smell her feet during a session we were having. She said no, of course. (Crazy, I know. In fact, my friend and I visited her at her house shortly before I moved to Lancaster in 1999, and I was afraid she'd remember the incident, and say something in front of her husband. Luckily for me, she didnt. )
My parents took me for educational testing, to find out why I was so darned messed up. The tester told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was a very smart boy, who was not performing up to his potential. My father used to give me a very poor self image when I was growing up. Calling me ugly, mediocre, gay, (Not that there's anything wrong with gay, but I've never been, and never gave any indication that I was, but girls just didnt like me). I was thin, gawky, and rather ugly, for years.
After I had that educational testing, things changed. My grades improved, and I started to feel better about myself. I wasnt sure if I was even college material, and my SAT scores weren't great, but, I got in, and, when I got to college, things really took off.
I felt blessed to be in college, and absolutely loved it. My parents split, and my father and I estranged, in soph year, but, my grades were always very good, I loved my classes, and my professors. I would soak the knowledge up. Also, I was basically anorexic while my parents were married, and then after they seperated, I started gaining weight. (Who knew I'd end up fat, and with high BP).
In college, I had good friends, belonged to orginizations, and was basically happy, in the midst of a terrible divorce, and a long estrangement from my father. Finally, I had found my niche.
Sorry if this is a long rambling post. A lot of reminiscing here. So that's the question, How did you feel about school, and why? Oh, and by the way, the story about asking my high school guidance couneslor/shrink to smell her feet is absolutely true. I'm lucky she didnt call my house, or tell the Dean to suspend, or expel, me. Shows how I had a lot to learn.
Mitch
