I started this blog with a lot of unknowns about exactly what I would write about. I notice a pattern that I enjoy writing about ‘the olden days’ or ‘nostalgia’ topics. I feel it would be remiss of me to not write about one very integral part of my life, high school. High school was interesting for lack of a more inspiring word that first comes to mind. There tends to be a stigma around high school, that they are meant to be four defining development years — however, for me, they were just, well four years that I learned a good amount of necessary things, I graduated and I guess that chapter closed. However, sometimes I feel like I never gave it the appropriate closure or contemplation it fully needed.
At almost 60, what would I tell that 14 year old girl full of so much odd confusion about the next 4 years she’s about to embark upon…
Top 5 takeaways:
5. Being shy is ok. I was very awkward. I was quiet. I kept to myself. I worked after school at a library. I went home and did my homework. This was me and I was perfectly normal yet I didn’t feel that I was. That I cannot explain, but there it is, written down for closure purposes.
4. What you wear doesn’t matter. Oranically Grown (yes, that was a brand name of jeans I had), Sasson, Jordache, Lee or Levi jeans, corduroys, painters pants and overalls all come to mind. Clogs, wallabees or tretorn sneakers. I think I just mixed and matched throughout the week and really life went on around all of this. I don’t remember too much bad stuff about clothing, yet somehow what we wore mattered somewhere along the line, to this day, just not really sure why.
3. Friends are all around you in this building and they are just as much as confused as you are. My shyness did not help with this. I had several very close friends from my church group (hi Ann)! We would pass each other in the halls, do the head nod most likely, move along. Had I been more open or friendly, who knows if things could’ve been different, however, see #1 above and well, I think I still turned out ok there.
2. Look for a sport, group or club. I did not do a sport. To this day I wished I was a cheerleader because I was real good at cartwheels in my backyard so I thought I would be a great cheerleader, but again, see #1, I never tried out. At one point I joined the FBLA, which is known as The Future Business Leaders of America. I participated in a national steno competition somewhere that I don’t remember. We went to a hotel and stayed overnight. I am neither in business nor a leader, but those once in a lifetime memories of being in a steno competition, worth it! Eventually I joined the Italian Club by way of 2 friends that I had made and we went to Pennsylvania Amish Country, not really sure of the Italian connection here, however we had quite a fun time at an amusement park. So there you have it. I really can’t speak more highly of joining a club!
1. High school is 4 years. Life is so much longer. Have more fun. Not too much, but enough. Be sure to order your high school ring so that you can wear it on your pinky finger when you are almost 60. My advice in this post may be dated or it may still hold true to this day, I do not know, but this is from my experience and I wanted to share it here so that I may have the closure needed to this 4 year chapter in my book of life.
Sheils Writes 
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