High School Part II

My current reminiscing about High School brought back a lot of memories.

I almost always got good grades in school, especially in math and science courses (including Computer Programming classes). It wasn't because I was particularly smart or worked hard, I just had good retention of things I read and did and was able to recall them with little difficulty on tests and exams. I'm sure if I had actually pushed myself I could have gotten even better marks than I did, but it was really a case of apathy: why try for higher marks when I was already getting marks that my parents were very proud of and most other students would like to have?

I was far more concerned with one thing: people liking me, especially girls. I don't know why, but I was desperate for a girlfriend in high school, but since teenagers can smell desperation a mile away I was always on the outside looking in. Another large part of the problem was that I had crushes on the cutest girls that I realistically stood no chance with.

I was overweight growing up and at a school like mine where athletics was worshiped and academics was disparaged, it wasn't always fun. Overweight and gets good grades? The only thing that saved me from being ostracized was my friends who were in better shape and got only average grades.

I had a good group of friends. We all lived north of the city and bussed into town where the school was, so we all had things in common like having to drive kilometers to visit each other and having to go into the city for fun stuff like hockey games for the Junior A team. At school we hung out and did things like play hockey-tennis in the gym at lunch, or visit the video arcade. Every Friday we crossed the street to have lunch at McDonalds. In later years our group started golfing and once in a while we would skip class in the afternoon to go out to the course and get in a round. Those were great times.

Halfway through my 5th year of high school (back in the day, students interested in going on to university could opt to take OAC courses in a 5th year instead of being forced out the door after 4 years), I started an exercise regime that allowed me to lose a lot of weight and gain some confidence. From March of 93 to Sept 95 I had the best time of my life including starting university, finally getting a girlfriend or two (including the woman who would become my wife), and making a lot of new friends. Although my life before that was pretty good, the contrast makes it seem like a dark and dreary period  and perhaps that is why I feel so much loathing towards those days of relative loneliness and anguish.

I wish my High School Experience (TM) had been better. I wish I had had more confidence and had lost the weight earlier instead of later. In the end, I'm glad I survived and hope any children I raise can learn from my mistakes and I can guide them through the hazards better than I experienced.