Looking Back

I was not the typical teenager.

I never learned to drive. I cared more about academics than making new friends. I didn't smoke, drink or have any brush with drugs. I was never grounded. But maybe these things are only stereotypical.

My high school was out of the ordinary. There were about 60 total people. You knew everyone by name. The typical teacher to student ratio was something like 1:6 in all my classes. But for as many academic types there were just as many drug addicted rebels. I had a class that started off with only three students. Then there was only me. It was not unusual to see a lot of new faces there. Since class schedules were flexible, people with demanding extracurricular activities, fit right in. There were also the "bad" kids that didn't fit anywhere else. I can honestly say that somehow we all worked together. There was no bullying, because we were all misfits.

Most of my friends were a couple of years younger than me for some reason, but I wasn't emotionally stunted because of it. I probably rebelled a lot more because of them. They pushed me out of my comfort zone. I desperately wanted to be cool. I wanted a boyfriend. I spent most of my time listening to Smashing Pumpkins, watching Dallas Stars games and emo-ing out.

I think I was highly misunderstood by my peers because I was quiet. I definitely felt more comfortable with my teachers than my fellow students. My best friends were at another school, and nearly an hour away from my house. So even though I didn't have much of a social life, I was never truly alone, thanks to the telephone. Hours & hours gobbled up on that thing.

But most of the time, I was too busy to be really bored.

Looking back on it all, I don't know how I did it. It didn't seem hard at the time even though I do recall a few late nights studying for tests and writing papers. Academically, the school asked a lot out of you, but it was a rewarding experience. I still had time for sleepovers, too many concerts to count and basically being lazy. I worked hard for that lazy time though.

I might not have ended up at Yale or Harvard, but when I look back on all of it, I had a good time even if it was an unusual one.