High school was a long time ago for me. It’s hard to forget the memories though. Rows of locker doors, that great physics teacher, that great government teacher, the difficult geography teacher (who, in hindsight, did more to prepare me for college than maybe anyone), the daily routines, the cliques, how important friends were, how important “who” your friends were seemed to be, and on and on. High school is meant to be memorable. It was such a big place back then. Driving a car was an awesome perk. My first experiences with administrators who acted more like children than I did (that was an eye opening day), and being screamed at for hours until I agreed to take another acting class (probably only minutes in reality). High school sort of set me up for who I was able to become. Without high school I can’t imagine I’d like the bands I like, play the instruments I play, or still be in school for the field I’ve worked towards for a decade. High school is important for many reasons. That’s why it’s so amazing to go back.
I didn’t go back for a reunion (I’ll gripe about that in the future), but I did go back to visit my theatre professor. Every time I’m in town I want to meet up with him again as he was instrumental in directing my life’s current path (plus, you know, he’s a pretty awesome human being to begin with). It was nothing short of wonderful to meet with him again. I learned about the changes to the school, the updates to the building (but not, of course, the ageing and — let’s be honest: dangerous — stage), and the creation of department heads (along with a political explanation of the “why” behind who currently holds that position). It’s kind of amazing to revisit the past in the present. So much has changed. The opportunities are greater, in some ways, than they were before. Perhaps worse in other areas. At any rate, today I was thinking about high school fondly and thanking (again) one of my greatest teachers. If you have the opportunity to do the same: do.