Sunday, November 6, 2011

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Week 45 High School

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of weekly blogging prompts started by Amy Coffin. The purpose is to record your memories and insights about your own life and experience. This week is to discuss your experience in high school.

I attended a small high school in New Jersey with a long name, Delaware Valley Regional High School. It was surrounded by fields and had a student body of approx. 815 people, with my graduating class at that time being the largest around 240 people. It was mostly a jock high school, meaning sports were very supported and revered. I was a drama geek. Everybody knew everybody or at the very least knew of them.

My sophomore year I was an exchange student to Australia. It was a great year. I was able to break out of the small community and experience life beyond cornfields and farms. Australia is a beautiful country with lovely people. In high school there I played soft ball and cricket. Coming back to my high school was a challenge. While I was away my friends had made friends with others in various different groups. It was also tough to come back to such an insular experience.

The one class I took in high school that I still find useful today was a typing class. Algebra was the toughest, I voluntarily stayed after school many times with the teacher trying to understand it. I think she took pity on me, I passed by two points getting a C. My senior year I spent half the day at my high school and then travelled to another for their drama program.

In hind sight, I would have done things just a little differently. I would have taken art classes during all my years and not just the year in Australia. I've discovered I enjoy running, so I probably would have done track. That's it really, I still would have done everything else. High school for me was not the defining moment of my life like it is for many others. I was glad when it was over, and I didn't look back.

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