Ok, I realize the title to this post is a bit…dramatic, but I’ve been running around at work all day (this is the first time I’ve really been able to sit down to do just about anything) and my blog title creativity wheels are just not turning the way they should be!
So why the dramatic title?! Well….last night I was looking though good ole’ Facebook and ended up stumbling upon a photographer’s company page from the area where my home is. It features albums of photos from senior portraits, newborn babies, and then, of course, weddings. There was one wedding in particular that caught my eye because the cover to the album was a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I clicked through the photos and it didn’t take me long to recognize the glowing bride – she went to my high school – and she was, how do I put it….not a very nice girl.
I really can’t say too many bad things about my high school experience. I wasn’t THE most popular girl in my class (which by the way, was only made up of about 100 students – Catholic School folks!), but I also wasn’t the most unpopular girl either. I played high school sports – lots of them – tennis, basketball, cross country, track, swimming…I certainly kept busy. I was also nominated for the homecoming court twice – my sophomore year and my senior year. I took hard classes (a few AP’s and mostly honors courses) and even though I couldn’t always keep up (oh, hey honors calculus!) I was never considered (at least I don’t think) one of the dumb kids or one of the super-all-I-do-is-study kids either. Overall – I prided myself on the fact that while I hung out with a pretty popular group of girls
, I also hung out with the “jocks” and also chatted up/ate lunch many times with some of the girls I attended grade school with. I considered myself a floater friend in high school (and yes, I just coined that term).
The unfortunate part of high school are the few bumps that inevitably occur…especially with teenage girls. I attended high school with my best friend on my arm. We hung out EVERY weekend while I was in grade school and middle school and knew that going to the same high school would be the BEST time ever. Turns out we both made new friends and our relationship actually started to fizzle out even though I felt like I did my best to include her in activities that I attended even when she wouldn’t do the same for me (still sad about this relationship fizzling out…yep.)
One of my big, first “bumps” in high school was a particular instance I remember happened in my SAT prep class. You know, that filler class where you’d learn vocabulary and how to correctly approach a word problem in the math section? Well, that SAT class is one I will never forget and there is one word that I will ALWAYS remember the definition to thanks to one very special girl. Me and this particular girl were actually very friendly just a few months before, but one day it all changed (I’m still not really sure why) and during one of our SAT Prep classes we had to “use our vocabulary words in a sentence,” which turned into this particular girl writing out the following sentence…”I have an AVERSION towards Andrea.” HA! Yes folks, this is what I got. Of course it was bad at the time, but now it just makes me laugh (hmm…kind of reminds me of the “I Hate Andrea” club that was formed circa fifth grade, of course that’s a whole other post!). How silly.
The second “bump” I encountered in high school was with a small clique of girls in the grade level above me. I believe I was a sophomore (which made these girls juniors). I actually hung out with a lot of girls older than me since we were often playing on the same sports teams at school (mostly basketball players and track runners). Turns out though that this one particular group of girls didn’t like me so much and they made it VERY obvious. One instance in particular that I’ll always remember was on my way back to class after school mass (again, Catholic high school folks, we had mass every Wednesday!). As I turned the corner of the hallway to make my way back to my classroom I encountered this group of girls huddled around and as I walked by, every single one of them lifted their heads to give me the ugliest, meanest look possible. I realize that it doesn’t sound like much, but this little instance came after weeks of being taunted and clearly talked about by this little clique. Again, at the time it hurt, but now when I look back on it, I kind of have to chuckle a little bit.
So to bring this post full circle…I wrote about these high school stories because the bride that I recognized in the photos on Facebook, a girl whom I’ve literally not seen SINCE she graduated in the class above me, was one of those girls in that clique who gossiped about and tormented me for a good part of my sophomore year. I looked at her wedding photos and admired how beautiful she looked on her wedding day and the sweet look that she gave her groom as she walked down the aisle. I admired the
dreamy look in her eye in the photo of her hugging her mother and it got me thinking – I wonder what she’s like now and I wonder if she still does those types of things to people? I wonder just how much she’s changed since high school?
I can tell you firsthand that I am a completely different person than I was in my high school days. Yes, of course, there are some things that will never change, but can anyone really help NOT changing from those sheltered and protected days of really not-that-hard homework, weekly tennis-team matches and school dances? I was certainly not a perfect saint in high school and while I’m on the topic, I also did my fair share of gossiping too and still sometimes do, although now when I DO gossip I try to reserve it for my husband’s ears only – lucky him, right?!
The girl who had such an “aversion” towards me in high school actually lives in the city…maybe I should call her up and schedule a coffee date?! I also remember at M. and my engagement party we invited my old best friend’s parents and when my mom, her mom and myself talked about the “old days” of when we’d hang out she actually started tearing up over the “memories” that we chatted about. Turns out my old best friend is engaged to be married now too.
So what do you think about this – do you think that people can have complete 360 changes? Were we all just so stupid in high school that it forced
us to do stupid things to others? Did you guys have any experiences like this back in high school, or have you reconnected with someone you thought you’d never be friends with after past events?
I’ve gotta say…I’m still on the fence about it. From what I’ve witnessed in my office (where there are MANY women), the gossiping never ends and the competition between ladies will never die. Funny too, Taylor Swift’s “Mean” just came on my Pandora station.
Happy Wednesday!
**1st: The Graduation Mother/Daughter Tea given by my mom and me. 2nd Photo: High School Graduation Mass. 3rd Photo: High School Graduation Awards Ceremony**
So why the dramatic title?! Well….last night I was looking though good ole’ Facebook and ended up stumbling upon a photographer’s company page from the area where my home is. It features albums of photos from senior portraits, newborn babies, and then, of course, weddings. There was one wedding in particular that caught my eye because the cover to the album was a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I clicked through the photos and it didn’t take me long to recognize the glowing bride – she went to my high school – and she was, how do I put it….not a very nice girl.
I really can’t say too many bad things about my high school experience. I wasn’t THE most popular girl in my class (which by the way, was only made up of about 100 students – Catholic School folks!), but I also wasn’t the most unpopular girl either. I played high school sports – lots of them – tennis, basketball, cross country, track, swimming…I certainly kept busy. I was also nominated for the homecoming court twice – my sophomore year and my senior year. I took hard classes (a few AP’s and mostly honors courses) and even though I couldn’t always keep up (oh, hey honors calculus!) I was never considered (at least I don’t think) one of the dumb kids or one of the super-all-I-do-is-study kids either. Overall – I prided myself on the fact that while I hung out with a pretty popular group of girls
, I also hung out with the “jocks” and also chatted up/ate lunch many times with some of the girls I attended grade school with. I considered myself a floater friend in high school (and yes, I just coined that term). The unfortunate part of high school are the few bumps that inevitably occur…especially with teenage girls. I attended high school with my best friend on my arm. We hung out EVERY weekend while I was in grade school and middle school and knew that going to the same high school would be the BEST time ever. Turns out we both made new friends and our relationship actually started to fizzle out even though I felt like I did my best to include her in activities that I attended even when she wouldn’t do the same for me (still sad about this relationship fizzling out…yep.)
One of my big, first “bumps” in high school was a particular instance I remember happened in my SAT prep class. You know, that filler class where you’d learn vocabulary and how to correctly approach a word problem in the math section? Well, that SAT class is one I will never forget and there is one word that I will ALWAYS remember the definition to thanks to one very special girl. Me and this particular girl were actually very friendly just a few months before, but one day it all changed (I’m still not really sure why) and during one of our SAT Prep classes we had to “use our vocabulary words in a sentence,” which turned into this particular girl writing out the following sentence…”I have an AVERSION towards Andrea.” HA! Yes folks, this is what I got. Of course it was bad at the time, but now it just makes me laugh (hmm…kind of reminds me of the “I Hate Andrea” club that was formed circa fifth grade, of course that’s a whole other post!). How silly.
The second “bump” I encountered in high school was with a small clique of girls in the grade level above me. I believe I was a sophomore (which made these girls juniors). I actually hung out with a lot of girls older than me since we were often playing on the same sports teams at school (mostly basketball players and track runners). Turns out though that this one particular group of girls didn’t like me so much and they made it VERY obvious. One instance in particular that I’ll always remember was on my way back to class after school mass (again, Catholic high school folks, we had mass every Wednesday!). As I turned the corner of the hallway to make my way back to my classroom I encountered this group of girls huddled around and as I walked by, every single one of them lifted their heads to give me the ugliest, meanest look possible. I realize that it doesn’t sound like much, but this little instance came after weeks of being taunted and clearly talked about by this little clique. Again, at the time it hurt, but now when I look back on it, I kind of have to chuckle a little bit.
So to bring this post full circle…I wrote about these high school stories because the bride that I recognized in the photos on Facebook, a girl whom I’ve literally not seen SINCE she graduated in the class above me, was one of those girls in that clique who gossiped about and tormented me for a good part of my sophomore year. I looked at her wedding photos and admired how beautiful she looked on her wedding day and the sweet look that she gave her groom as she walked down the aisle. I admired the
dreamy look in her eye in the photo of her hugging her mother and it got me thinking – I wonder what she’s like now and I wonder if she still does those types of things to people? I wonder just how much she’s changed since high school?I can tell you firsthand that I am a completely different person than I was in my high school days. Yes, of course, there are some things that will never change, but can anyone really help NOT changing from those sheltered and protected days of really not-that-hard homework, weekly tennis-team matches and school dances? I was certainly not a perfect saint in high school and while I’m on the topic, I also did my fair share of gossiping too and still sometimes do, although now when I DO gossip I try to reserve it for my husband’s ears only – lucky him, right?!
The girl who had such an “aversion” towards me in high school actually lives in the city…maybe I should call her up and schedule a coffee date?! I also remember at M. and my engagement party we invited my old best friend’s parents and when my mom, her mom and myself talked about the “old days” of when we’d hang out she actually started tearing up over the “memories” that we chatted about. Turns out my old best friend is engaged to be married now too.
So what do you think about this – do you think that people can have complete 360 changes? Were we all just so stupid in high school that it forced
us to do stupid things to others? Did you guys have any experiences like this back in high school, or have you reconnected with someone you thought you’d never be friends with after past events? I’ve gotta say…I’m still on the fence about it. From what I’ve witnessed in my office (where there are MANY women), the gossiping never ends and the competition between ladies will never die. Funny too, Taylor Swift’s “Mean” just came on my Pandora station.
Happy Wednesday!
**1st: The Graduation Mother/Daughter Tea given by my mom and me. 2nd Photo: High School Graduation Mass. 3rd Photo: High School Graduation Awards Ceremony**
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