Day 2 - Describe you High School self

Who was I in high school?

I was an overachieving underachiever
I wasn’t popular but I knew a lot of people
I was weird, just like I am now.

I loved High School and I’m not just writing that because I haven’t been in 16 years and I’ve forgotten. It was a good time in my life. I didn’t have a lot of friends but that is kind of the same now. My High School self was constantly busy and I never felt left out. That hasn’t changed; I’ve always had a hard time fitting people into my schedule.

I was on a number of teams. I played Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Tennis, Badminton, and Indoor Soccer. I was on the Girls Athletic Council, Grad Council and Yearbook Committee. I also volunteered as a “Peer Helper” and worked with students with Disabilities.

By far my favourite activity out of all of the above was being a Photographer on the Yearbook Committee. It was such a great opportunity to be involved in pretty much everything that went on at our school. I was the constant spectator. People would ask me to attend their events/games and would kiss up to me to take their pictures. I also never had to worry about a date to a dance or prom because I was there on “official business”. It was so great because I loved going but being a wallflower sucks. There was nothing better than purposefully wandering around with my camera and taking it all in (also taking pictures of the girls I had crushes on – haha).

Although I ended up graduating with a proficiency award (above 80% average) my high school academic career was shaky. I had a modified schedule of only 6 classes (3 per semester) because I have “an identified learning disability”, dyslexia. I also had/have ADD (which I think is a load of $&%, don’t get me started). Most people would probably think it would be more obvious that I was dyslexic but these days it mostly comes out with pen and paper communicating (I hate written forms). It’s also there when people give me directions verbally and want me to perform the actions immediately. When I played hockey (before TTC ) I had to wear a marker on my left glove to make sure I visually knew where on the ice to go for face off, and when we’d change sides. I’ve really adapted to using a computer, spell check is my friend, I can type well and I google worlds constantly. It was rough then, but it isn’t now. When I was in High School I spent a lot of time not going to class because I was in my own world.

Outside of school hours I had a part time job as a “Community Sports Leader”. I taught the red cross babysitting course (you need zero qualification to teach this, FYI), a cooking class and a craft class. I also worked basketball games on the weekend, eventually coaching my own team of 6 and 7 year old girls. It was pretty awesome. In the summers I worked as a camp counsellor and I also played field hockey on a recreational travelling team.

As far as dating during High School, I dated a couple of guys. I barely even want to talk about it. Guys are great when you’re playing basketball and rollerblading but the thing about dating a boy is they eventually want to hold your hand or kiss you and then you need to cut them loose. It didn’t work out well.

I think that pretty much sums up High School.