Blog Bash Challenge: Rekindle

So the Blog Bash I am participating in this week, hosted by Not Your Average Teen, has challenged everyone to write a post rekindling our memories from high school. Funny enough I can't think of any particular one I want to share, yet I know in a few more weeks I will be writing about them for Mommy's Piggy TALES, and so far they have flowed very well from even younger years for that!

Its hard for me to think of many really happy, 'stand out' moments from high school. Not that life wasn't happy, just very normal and routine. I was not popular but I had enough friends for me. I loved going to youth group though I often felt like a joke there, the one everyone made fun of- I know they all still cared, I was just an easy and naive target and 'teens will be teens', right? I had a job from pretty much the 2nd month of my high school experience- which just to clarify was sophomore through senior year in my school system. In a very overcrowded district, the freshman were with the 7th and 8th graders in the junior highs. Due to my job I had little opportunity to be actively involved in extra curricular activities. I did choir, which was an elective class, all 3 years and an extra ladies jazz class my senior year.
Choir was very bittersweet for me. Though I generally liked our teacher, I was frustrated that he seemed to play favorites and I was not one of them. I am not sure what he actually thought of me, but I always felt he was disappointed in me somehow, like I wasn't quite good enough. I tried out for every solo I could, as well as, to be a part of the 'top' jazz group called the Highlighters my senior year, and he never once gave me a second thought for any of them. I know at least for the Highlighters, he knew it would be difficult for me to put in the extra after school hours the group required, though I told him I was determined to work it out. I had to settle for the beginning jazz ladies group he was also teaching. Otherwise, choir was fun, I loved to sing and felt I was pretty good at it though nothing 'special'. As a choir we regularly went to competitions, which were experiences I will never forget. They got me out and away occasionally when otherwise I would've stayed home and went to work. My junior year we even travelled the West Coast, stopping at a college, and Disneyland, were we sang for an audience, over most of spring break!
Outside of choir, I briefly was part of French club. I would go if I didn't have to work and could get a ride home during my sophomore year, then junior year I was supposed to be the VP but due to my peers dislike of me, they kicked me out for what I felt was unfair reasoning. That was the last year I took French.
My 1st year in it I had an awful teacher, though I was a favorite student of Mr. J. He taught very elementary French, and most of the students made fun of him though I was the exception- probably why he liked me. I remember having to turn in this big packet of past worksheets (all already graded), but he gave an additional grade for reasons I didn't know. When he had everyone turn back in the packet of their work for the month, (I was never a very organized student) so I couldn't find everything. I told Mr. J I had forgotten it when he asked me to hand it in and his reply was simply "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you deserve an A!" I was astonished! While I was thrilled as a student, I totally disagree with that method of teaching as an adult. Even then while happy with the grade I didn't quite agree, feeling it was wrong. Grades should be earned, not given based on favor without merit. Either way, he did not prepare his classes of students for the 2nd & 3rd year French teacher, Ms. F, who was quite difficult. She insisted we only speak basic French in class, which most had barely learned from Mr. J. And I barely made it through my 2nd year before I decided I was done! Plus 2 years was our required foreign language credit, so I had earned it and had no desire to continue.
Well those are some brief memories from my ordinary high school years. I don't want to say too much more because I will be posting about it for Mommy's Piggy TALES soon in much more detail!

To view the rest of my Mommy's Piggy TALES posts click here. To view my Blog Bash intro click here.