After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box - Author unknown
“Unfortunately, the truth is now whatever the media say it is”
-Abbey
My sister and I were both quiet and studious as kids. That changed in middle school because my parents made us get involved in activities. My sister began running and got into theater and drama. I did a lot of academic activities. I got pretty morose and depressed in middle school and was bullied quite a lot. Until my sister forced me to learn to defend myself. Eventually I morphed into the loud, opinionated and thoroughly overbearing person I am now.
Funny thing, school wasn't my thing. I loved kindergarten, 3 blocks from my house and made lots of friends. Then in first grade got sent to Catholic School, first day the teacher didn't show up, second day again a no show. 40 kids in the room. 3rd day a nun hit me during recess. That's when I stopped talking. They never told my parents I didn't speak, not once in 6 years!
I got hit in 4th grade by a really, really old nun, Sr. Rose DeLima, (about 5 years later they announced she died in church and I did a 'silent clap', my mom saw and hit me in the head, ala Gibbs!). One day I packed up my locker and left around 10am. Didn't say a word, just walked out. My mom met me in between school and home, about a mile, the nurse had called her and said I 'just left.' I just kept telling her I wanted to be away from that school. I got moved in 6th grade to the jr. high.
I loved jr. high! LOL! Lots of friends and president of my class, all three years. Then came high school.
It started alright, until the 3rd day when it wasn't 'freshmen' anymore. It was soooo crowed. The school was built for 2300 kids, our class was over 1800. The class behind us was just over 2000. 8 shifts, 6 lunch periods. Open campus. Drugs in the washrooms, hallways, there was even a smoking section outside!
(Unlike Abbey or Chloe, this was an upper class suburb and the school was very highly rated, still is! (About 15 years ago they built a new school in the same location that would hit capacity at 4200 students. They are quite shy of that number, though it's still a 'big school.' Between so. and sr. years, I missed over 165 days of school.
While I read a lot and was involved in things like a court watching project for the League of Women Voters, high school just wasn't where I was comfortable and it was where I developed claustrophobia! (I'm 5'1" and at the time about 85lbs. I was trying to exit classroom doors into a sea of giants! I lost.)
Luckily I could show up and take tests and pass. Open campus led to the wonderful world of 'homework won't be graded, but you need to know it for the tests.' NOT.
Funny thing, as soon as I started in college, (thanks to my mom), I really settled down and worked. Weird how that worked out.
I teach. I taught for over 10 years in Catholic School. How weird is that?
"The government is a child that has found their parents credit card, and spends knowing that they never have to reconcile the bill with their own money"-Shannon Churchill
Kath:
1. You liked middle school, and isn't that where you mostly taught? and
2. You knew you could do it better (teaching).
After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box - Author unknown
“Unfortunately, the truth is now whatever the media say it is”
-Abbey
I went to an under performing high school that didn't breed success. That didn't mean that teachers allowed you to give up. My school had dropouts and misfits, but we also had students who earned scholarships to outstanding schools.
When I was in ninth grade, I wanted to take easy classes that had my friends in them. The counselor wouldn't allow me to do it. She knew I was smarter than that and signed me up for advanced classes (with my parents permission, of course). The next year, the math department chair pretty much forced me into the competition team with a very skillfully executed guilt trip.
My biggest coup was in 11th grade when my best friend and I got to participate in the district wide mock government. Each of the high schools in the district sent reps to form a mock Congress. We talked a good game (in true government form, we promised a lot and delivered nothing ) and took it more seriously than others. Thus, my friend was chosen Speaker of the House and I was the Majority leader. We considered only the bills we liked and no one spoke without our permission. No one liked us.
Strangely enough, we were not selected for the Southern Region mock Congress.
I loved school because it was my escape from the horrible home life. I would say that I excelled in academics but would have loved to participate in after school activities. With the responsibilities of home and having no one to be my taxi driver (home was 45 minutes from school), I missed out on a lot. I was really good in sports (in gym class) but no competitions (loved tennis and archery).
I didn't go to college until I was raising three kids and had my own business (30's - 40's) and going to night class. It took over 15 years to get degree doing it at night. I love learning and always have.
Because my family all have a criminal record and dropped out of high school I'm described as the black sheep of the family!
If the freedom of speech is taken away
then dumb and silent we may be led,
like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the USA.
I was sort of an all-around oddball. I didn't like strangers touching me, but I'm very easy with it with close friends and such. I was usually extremely quiet, but I could then go off on a verbal breakaway for nearly an hour. I was afraid of a lot of things, but still did them... to some hilarious results. I wouldn't defend myself in a fight, but if even one person next to me, even someone who bullied me, was in a fight, it was on, no matter how many people were involved.
"Government screws up everything. If government says black, you can bet it's white. If government says sit still for your safety, you'd better run for your life!"
--Wayne Allyn Root
www.rootforamerica.com
www.FairTax.org
Only my mother's baby brother had a criminal record. And yes , he was the black sheep of that family. I was the most rebellious one in my family but never the black sheep. That honor went to my much younger twin brothers. Both started drinking and drugging a few years after dad died and his influence was no longer a factor. . They were 14 years old at the start of that and have only recently let up a bit. Ronald is likely to die fairly soon from his chronic alcoholism and Donald will not be far behind with his drug use. I am amazed they both have lasted this long. My entire family has spent over 30 long years and tons of money trying to rehabilitate them but no success. Both in their early fifties and will undoubtedly die having not changed. I wish they would but its entirely their choice. Nobody can do it for them. Sad all the way around. I no longer attempt to change them except to occasionally remind them that their sad state of living is their own doing and only they can choose to change it, they both refuse..-Tyr
18 U.S. Code § 2381-Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
I was a weird kid, obsessed with books and music and weird things. When I was a teenager I was REALLY, REALLY bad, but learned to stay under my mother's radar - which could have been hard being an only child, thankfully she didn't pay much attention. HATED school, basically anything that interfered with my personal freedom Left home at 16, managed to finish high school (despite getting kicked out twice, quitting and two different alternative high school programs), and college but didn't really smarten up totally until about 27ish. But it's all water under the bridge now, thankfully I'm not in a penitentiary somewhere, so all things considered it could have been a lot worse and no federal convictions so far.
'There's nothing gay about hell' - Patty Leotardo
So, I might have already told this story and some of you might remember it. While I don't have, and still don't have, any black marks on file I was almost arrested by Homeland Security at LAX for having a stun gun in my baggage.
Thankfully, being in my 60's and not looking like a terrorist (thank goodness I had my makeup on ), and having to show them all my ID (military one came in handy), I was not detained. They did keep the stun gun. The cops (not Homeland) were intrigued because they had never seen one like it before. They thought it was cool and the fact that I was a Mrs. CSM, they had my back with Homeland (which were a bunch of dorks).
The TSA agent saw it first (it looks like a cell phone I forgot to put in my checked luggage for trip home) and then called in the HS agents who then called the LAPD. After they ran a background check on me the cops teased me by saying no one gets to be in their 60's squeaky clean. As Said1 mentioned ... staying under the radar is tricky!!!
Anyway, that is the closest I've come to being put in handcuffs (well, except the time I smacked my husband's ex wife ... which is another story for another day).
If the freedom of speech is taken away
then dumb and silent we may be led,
like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the USA.
18 U.S. Code § 2381-Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
I find it interesting that so many of us were introverted kids. Many of us read a lot, too. I'll bet there is a correlation between those traits and being active on message boards.
I guess the extroverts prefer to be out meeting new people all day.
After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box - Author unknown
“Unfortunately, the truth is now whatever the media say it is”
-Abbey
As young as third grade my parents got letters from the school counselor that I didn't socialize with other kids. It was obvious and extreme. I'm not quiet, but am told I talk "at" people instead of "to" them. I still don't really understand the concept of a conversation. Oddly enough, it's not really necessary to socialize to succeed. If one learns to advertize instead of socialize, it still works. I like one way communication where I do the talking since deep down I don't care what someone else thinks.
Last edited by tailfins; 04-10-2014 at 03:47 PM.