Did you enjoy high school?

[Disco]

I enjoyed my HS years, but not because I "fit in" with a particular crowd. I attended public school in very conservative Idaho, & enjoyed being the only outspoken liberal female in the 1,000+ student population. I also participated in a lot of clubs: Youth in Government (which I organized for my school), Math Club (yeah, I was a geek, too), Drama Club (my Dad nicked me Sarah Bernheart), and the newspaper staff (for my political fix). I also had a part time job then--man, when did I find the time?

The only down side: I intimidated so many of the guys in my school, I had to find my dates from the other high schools in town.

MHB

 

[BlackCat]

Meh. High school was blah. The kids weren't bad, not like they had been in elementary school and such, but I didn't fit in anywhere. I was smart, but I wasn't into extracurricular activities, so the smart kids excluded me, I wasn't into drugs or other bad things, so those people excluded me. Pretty much everyone excluded me, even the Christians with whom I supposedly shared my faith with. There were some nice aquaintances in my classes, but they never really paid much attention to me outside of class. I guess I would have to say that I was better friends with my teachers than my classmates. At least the teachers respected my intelligence.

That pretty much sums it up. Meh.

BlackCat

 

[jj]

High School sucked. Of course, it was in a heavily class-concious area, and my dad worked in the mill. Then again, I hated being adolescent, had no money for lunch (I will give a couple of people credit for making sure that I didn't starve), no money to do ANYTHING social (other than hang out), and wore the cheapest polyester we could find because it lasted like iron and it was cheap.

Being poor sucks, too, come to think of it. But being poor and having it thrown in your face everyday doesn't improve the experience.

 

[kittynh]

I was so glad to get to COLLEGE and the real world.

It was heaven.

My high school was so big, you couldn't get on a team or join anything as it was too full!

You just survived. You wouldn't have any classes with your friends, as it was TOO BIG. Your teachers would have you once and then you were gone.

College, it was so wonderful! I should have just skipped high school.

Oh, and the way they would treat you in high school, like you were just waiting to do something WRONG. IT was like a giant jail.

College, you screw up, hey, too bad for you! But at least you were once again a human being.

 

[Forty-Two]

High school for me was much better than middle school, but it was still pretty awkward. Between eighth and ninth grade I started keeping a journal and figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be -- the typical "finding yourself" stuff for teenagers. Unfortunately, as I started growing into the person I wanted to be, I realized that I didn't like the friends I was currently with, and that led to some pretty bitter fights and social battles. I came out better for it, and though I never really fell in with a clique, there weren't many people with whom I didn't get along. I was an outsider, though -- People liked me enough to talk with me, but never enough to hang out with outside of school.

Contributing to my social awkwardness was a friendship I had with a young, idealistic English teacher. She was new to the world of teaching apethetic teenagers, and had unreasonably high expectations, which meant that she was an extremely tough grader. Most students hated her, since they'd been receiving A's in other classes for the same level of work that she'd mark with a C. I've always been strong academically, though, and I was just yearning for the challenges she provided. She taught me how to write well, and it set me up very well for college.

Because she was so young (I married a man who is older than she is), I was so, well, intelligent, and our personalities really worked well together, we struck up a friendship outside the classroom. That hurt me in the eyes of my peers, because I went from being just the teacher's favorite to being an extreme teacher's pet. I lost touch with her after I went to college; I wonder how long she lasted at that school.

 

[Metullus]

The only good thing about high school for me was that I only had to put up with it for three years. Teachers and I seldom meshed.

I did get to know the office staff quite well and I had my own desk in detention.

 

[Forty-Two]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

...Oh, I guess I really am a teacher's pet.

 

[Piggy]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

We do! Teaching is a difficult job, even at the college level where discipline is not such a concern -- my hat's off to high school teachers, and I bow to those willing to teach middle school -- and it's frustrating not knowing if you ever made a difference. Your students are the measure of your success, but they go on and you never know.

Or almost never.

I remember one student, Mr. Green, who struggled through my class. But he took advantage of every conference, and my policy of allowing students to submit a draft of any paper and take comments. By the end of the course, he had come so far that his late-term grades pulled his poor early grades up to a B! (I weighed later grades more heavily.)

The following year, he showed up at my office one day. In his hand was his first paper from his sophomore-level English class. He had earned an A. He was psyched! I will never forget that moment. I can picture his face right now.

Thank you, Mr. Green. You mean more to me than you will ever know.

 

[Metullus]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I hear teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

Not all teachers do:

Two years ago I had occasion to visit my high school during a school event. I saw my AP English teacher and approached him with my hand out to shake his.

I was only able to say "Hello, Mr. S, I'm..." before he interrupted me.

"I remember you, Mr. B. I consider you to be my one failure as a teacher."

And he turned and walked away. I felt really special.

I suspect that I was in many ways a less than ideal student.

 

[Forty-Two]

That's just one of those situations where you realize it's the other person's problem.

Sorry he was such a jerk to you.

 

[Metullus]

That's just one of those situations where you realize it's the other person's problem.

Sorry he was such a jerk to you.

Actually, I think that I was, indeed, the problem. Don't regret it, though. At least, not entirely.

 

[RSLancastr]

Writing all that above inspired me to find that teacher's email address and write her a thank you note. I here teachers really appreciate that sort of thing.

...Oh, I guess I really am a teacher's pet.

Make sure that when you write to her, you spell "hear" correctly!

 

[RSLancastr]

Not all teachers do:

One teacher who really inspired me was Mr. Jones, my Algebra and Geometry teacher in high school.

About ten years after graduating, I saw him at the wedding reception of one of my other teachers.

When I told him that he had made a positive difference in my life, he sadly said "Thanks for saying so, but for every student who I helped to love algebra, there was at least one more who I helped to hate it."

He then went on to talk about another ex-student who had approached him recently in a restaurant and told him how much he (the student) hated math because of Mr. Jones.

Mrs. Jones was there when we had this conversation, and I could see how much the whole thing pained her, and how grateful she was that I had said something positive to him.

 

[Piggy]

When I told him that he had made a positive difference in my life, he sadly said "Thanks for saying so, but for every student who I helped to love algebra, there was at least one more who I helped to hate it."

He then went on to talk about another ex-student who had approached him recently in a restaurant and told him how much he (the student) hated math because of Mr. Jones.

Mrs. Jones was there when we had this conversation, and I could see how much the whole thing pained her, and how grateful she was that I had said something positive to him.

This is one reason why teaching is so hard, especially mid-hi. It pains me now (literally) when I think of how I treated some of my high school teachers. They deserved better.

Truth be told, I taught college partly because I was a coward, because I knew I couldn't handle a high school classroom.

 

[Forty-Two]

Make sure that when you write to her, you spell "hear" correctly!

Don't worry; I take more care in writing emails than I do when posting.

(Deer Jen, thnx 4 teeching me 2 right gud.)

 

[Kevin_Lowe]

I didn't hate high school as much as primary school. My high school was slightly better about corralling their thugs, and some of the material was challenging enough to keep my brain occupied.

Otherwise it the same routine of authoritarianism, brainwashing, mindless worship of sport, dishonesty, bullying, bored children turning on each other and time wasted on useless subject matter. It was a better class of jail.

It takes real effort to make children hate learning, but the teaching system does so.

I don't think I could teach at a school, morally speaking, while they resemble the schools of today.

 

[Achán hiNidráne]

Vietnam vets have a saying: "I know I'm going to heaven because I've done my time in Hell." That phrase describes my high school experience.

I was dead bottom on the social pecking order; the one everyone looked for when they wanted someone to pick on or beat up. It didn't matter what clique they belong to, they all did it; Jocks, preppies, metal heads, the "special ed" kids, and even the girls got their licks in.

Most of my daily abuse was psychological. There was innuendo that I slept with my sister or my dog. My locker was frequent vandalized. I had my books stolen from my book bag, only to be found later torn to shreds. One of frequent tormentors told me that I "couldn't get a $2 whore to f--- you if you paid her $2 million."

About once or twice a week, it would get physical,. My peers always made sure to make it look like a accident. One would "trip," fall into me, and either shove me against a wall or punch me. Book dumpings were also common and students would stomp on my fingers or kick my books around while I tried to pick up my things.

What was especially sickening is that the teachers would do nothing about it even if it was happening RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. When my parents came to the principal to voice their concerns about my treatment they were told "we're educators, not security guards." I don't know if they were afraid of a lawsuit if they intervened, but the pain of having the wind knocked out of by a fist to gut is nothing compared to the apathetic look from the teacher who watched it happen and did nothing to stop it or discipline the bully who threw the punch.

In those days, I had contemplated suicide more than a couple of times, and even seriously considered killing a few of my worst tormentors before doing myself in. I had trouble maintaining ties among the few friends I did have because I was always afraid they'd turn on me. All I could do was hope for graduation so I can get out of the hell that was Muskego High School.

Although that was 12 years ago, I still carry the scars around with me. I get very anxious paranoid in most social situations, and there are times I'd rather eat broken glass than to go out. It's also fueled my nonexistent self-esteem, not to mention my fear of sexual rejection and inability to talk to women. Worst of all, every few weeks I get to relive my high school experience in my nightmares. I usually wake up terrified; my heart is pounding, I'm sweating, and I'm too scared to move.

Every time I hear some moron tell me that bullying "builds character" or that high school is something we "get over" I want to ball up a fist and punch their teeth down their throat. They have no idea how it was for me.

 

[clarsct]

Vietnam vets have a saying: "I know I'm going to heaven because I've done my time in Hell." That phrase describes my high school experience.

I was dead bottom on the social pecking order; the one everyone looked for when they wanted someone to pick on or beat up. It didn't matter what clique they belong to, they all did it; Jocks, preppies, metal heads, the "special ed" kids, and even the girls got their licks in.

Most of my daily abuse was psychological. There was innuendo that I slept with my sister or my dog. My locker was frequent vandalized. I had my books stolen from my book bag, only to be found later torn to shreds. One of frequent tormentors told me that I "couldn't get a $2 whore to f--- you if you paid her $2 million."

About once or twice a week, it would get physical,. My peers always made sure to make it look like a accident. One would "trip," fall into me, and either shove me against a wall or punch me. Book dumpings were also common and students would stomp on my fingers or kick my books around while I tried to pick up my things.

What was especially sickening is that the teachers would do nothing about it even if it was happening RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. When my parents came to the principal to voice their concerns about my treatment they were told "we're educators, not security guards." I don't know if they were afraid of a lawsuit if they intervened, but the pain of having the wind knocked out of by a fist to gut is nothing compared to the apathetic look from the teacher who watched it happen and did nothing to stop it or discipline the bully who threw the punch.

In those days, I had contemplated suicide more than a couple of times, and even seriously considered killing a few of my worst tormentors before doing myself in. I had trouble maintaining ties among the few friends I did have because I was always afraid they'd turn on me. All I could do was hope for graduation so I can get out of the hell that was Muskego High School.

Although that was 12 years ago, I still carry the scars around with me. I get very anxious paranoid in most social situations, and there are times I'd rather eat broken glass than to go out. It's also fueled my nonexistent self-esteem, not to mention my fear of sexual rejection and inability to talk to women. Worst of all, every few weeks I get to relive my high school experience in my nightmares. I usually wake up terrified; my heart is pounding, I'm sweating, and I'm too scared to move.

Every time I hear some moron tell me that bullying "builds character" or that high school is something we "get over" I want to ball up a fist and punch their teeth down their throat. They have no idea how it was for me.

My wife had similar experiences. I sympathize.

Me?

I hated high school. I didn't even go to the reunion. f'kem.

College...now THAT was good times. I loved college. High school..no freedom, curfews, rules that made no sense, and people you wouldn't normally give the time of day to(teachers and students).

Nyah. Hated it, Loathed it. My best teachers were in grade school(as were my worst). It seems my high school teachers were the mediocre of the lot.

I wasn't an extremely popular kid, I'll admit it. I was the outsider. Everyone knew me and would talk to me, but not liked enough to really be 'included'. High school was a waste of my time.

 

[jj]

My locker was frequent vandalized.

Happened to me once. Did I mention I was a chemistry geek?

About once or twice a week, it would get physical,.

You mean like some rich kid wanted to have a "talk" with me because I must have cheated on that test, no kid like me could have gotten a better grade than him fairly?

Or the poor kid who wanted to have the same talk because I was "not staying in my place" (with him)?


Bullying doesn't build character. Fortunately I was a (*&(*& good long distance runner, I could float the classes without breaking a sweat, and a bunch of the good teachers did not support the crap at all. (Some did, though, because it was "wrong", or because "you must have cheated.)

And we have people like that here, too, don'tcha know?

 

[Aardvark]

I went to an Upper school in a less well off part of the city. We had a majority of kids for whom English was not their first language. There were a couple of minor stabbings, pupils using screwdrivers on Teachers. Bullying took place up to age 16. I reached my peak intellectually at the age of 14, and that is pretty good for a bloke. In had some terrific teachers and they helped me develop my rational reasoning skills. I enjoyed my time in the 6th form , 16-18 years old very much. I had some great friends. This was an old fashioned boys only school, our sister school was at the other side of the road and we only mingled on the transport. I would do it all again, but work even harder next time. I would probably even do A Level Physics. I did not do this option last time as the Physics master was a born again christian and took every opportunity to push god. I lost faith in the mans ability to be a decent teacher because of this and instead took Mathematics, a subject that I found more difficult. I would also have had more courage and asked more girls out on dates.