#21 High School... not exactly like Saved By The Bell...

Don't worry mom, it's just a Jones soda!

I remember when I was a little girl I couldn't wait to get to high school.  I loved watching shows about high school like Saved by the Bell, California Dreams, some show on Nickolodean called "Fifteen",  and 90201. (Don't tell my mom and dad I wasn't suppose to watch that one.)  They all made high school look like it was going to be so much fun.  I could not wait to get there and experience it for myself.  When I finally got there I discovered it was shockingly not at all like the shows I watched.  There was no central hangout like the Max, I never had my own band, I could not skip school whenever I wanted or call "timeout", there was no principal that was deeply involved in my life and my parents did not suddenly become these rarely seen figures in my life who let me do whatever I wanted.

Even though high school did not look at all like the popular teen shows, I did really enjoy my high school years for the most part.  Sure there were annoying parts like BC Calculus (I still do not know what possessed me to take that), finding out a few days before prom that the guy who was going to take me my sophomore year had decided to go with someone else, and dissecting the cat in anatomy and physiology.  In the end though even the annoying parts all turned out for the best.  Taking BC Calculus allowed me to earn 3 college credit hours, instead of going to prom my sophomore year I hung out with two awesome friends Amy and Christina, we had a really fun night that I still remember, going to see Never Been Kissed (or 10 Things I Hate About You, I can't remember which one) and having dessert at Frisch's. (would you like hot fudge with those french fries??), and dissecting the cat wasn't nearly as bad as Heather and I thought it would be.

One of the things I think that makes high school so great is that you begin to slowly take steps toward become an adult, but you still don't have all the responsibility that comes with being an adult.  I got my drivers license and my first car.  My parents slowly let up on my restrictions and gave me more freedom to hang out with my friends unsupervised. Also I was done with those horrible awkward middle school years.

Some of my favorite things about high school were the classic milestones like prom and homecoming. I think I honestly loved all the anticipation leading up to the event almost as much as I loved the event.  Who would ask me to be their date, what would I wear, what group should we go in?  Looking back though my favorite dance was the one where I actually didn't have a date.  My junior year I went to the King of Hearts dance with a big group of girls and we had the BEST time.

Its funny another one of my favorite high school memories was when my all time high school crush, came up to me at restaurant the summer before my senior year, gave me his number and told me to call him.  Its funny that its one of my favorite memories because I never did call him.  I actually had just gotten a boyfriend so I did the honorable thing and threw the number away (or maybe I tucked it in the bottom of a drawer "just in case", it was so long ago I can't be sure.)  In college I lamented that I had that boyfriend and I missed my chance to go on a date with my crush, however looking back on it and knowing that I eventually got to marry the ABSOLUTE BEST man I've ever known, I'm thankful that I never got to go on that date.  Sometimes things are just better being left in the unknown. He was a nice guy but we were very different people and it all ended up the way it was supposed to.     

Besides the friends, and the special milestones another thing that made high school such a great time in my life was some of the wonderful teachers.  Two in particular really stand out in my memory, Mrs. Baird and Mr. Muldoon.  Mrs. Baird was my English teacher my sophomore year and I loved her so much that I ended up being her aid during my study halls my junior and senior years.  Mrs. Baird is a wonderful encourager.   She was also great at engaging our class in discussions.  While I did really love Mrs. Baird's class I actually bonded the most with her when I was her aid.  One semester she had a student teacher so sometimes she would come back and talk to me and my friend Heather in her office and since it was first period every Friday the three of us would take turns getting donuts to share.  I loved that Mrs. Baird really cared about me and what was going on in my life.  Several times I was her aid during her planning period so we would talk about what was going on in our lives and the world.  It was the first time I ever had a teacher who I also considered a friend.

My other favorite high school teacher was my junior year English teacher, Mr. Muldoon.  Everyone loved him and his class was one of my all time favorite classes.  He was a fun, entertaining  and inspiring teacher.  He was also a really great example of a Godly man.  He was  open about his faith and how much he loved the Lord.  He also always talked about how great his wife and kids were and you could just see how much he loved them.  Listening to him talk about his family made me hope that one day I would get to marry a guy who loved our family as much as Mr. Muldoon loved his. (I'm thankful that I did in fact get to marry a guy like that!)  I remember one time I got progress report and he had checked the box to request my parents call him.  I went to him to ask if it was a mistake because usually teachers only want a parent to call if there is a problem.  He said there wasn't a problem.  My mom called him but missed him and when he called her back he left the nicest message on the machine about what  great student and person he thought I was and how much he loved having me in class.  He also told my parents they should be very proud of me.  My mom cried when she listened to the message.

There are so many more great high school memories I could share about how Tischler's french class was always so much fun, or getting lost on the way to a teen dance club because we were directionally challenged and didn't read the signs right, but this post is already pretty long so I'm going to wrap it up. High school was not like the TV shows made it out to be, however it was a really fun four years of great friends and slowly starting to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be.  However, I do really wish I had the ability to call a "time out" every now and then!