Final Reflections: My Last Day in High School

I think all of us, while in grade or high school, just want to get the heck out of there. How great were the summers and school breaks?

For some, school was absolute hell. I was bullied for being fat (sorry - “husky” was the word back then) when kids generally weren’t fat, unlike today. Other kids were bullied for being poor, not being “cool”, acting “weird”, a big nose, wild hair -  there was no end to the things kids would try to find fault in, so as to boost their own standing in the social ranks; we all were trying to find our place in the world. Then we would have the pressure of trying to get good grades, playing in sports, not to mention our home lives, which for some kids, were very hellish, some being very poor, had abusive parents, or standards they couldn’t live up to.

But at least school expectations were pretty predictable. You knew what was expected, you knew when breaks were and so on; there is some comfort in familiarity.

But when you leave that last time, most of those kids you’ll never ever see again. Some will die soon after high school. Some will move far away. Some want nothing to do with their school years and the kids they had to be requested with for all those years. You may go to a reunion 10 years later, but many won’t. Those are generally for the kids that were in the higher class of the group.