As much as being a high school kid was awesome, it was equally as shitty. The first thing that comes to my mind is how much stock I'd put in what other people thought. I'm positive there were people out there who were a lot more vain that I was, but still wanted to be cool as much as the next guy. I don't think I succeeded though. This brings to mind when I was growing my hair really long like Eden. It became such a part of who I believed I was and how I thought I was perceived, that when the time came to cut it (Year 10 formal I think), it scared me. Turns out after I had it cut (really short), I felt better... and no one cared. Really it was a burden to have the hair, at first I was doing it for me, then for everyone but me.
Something I find quite funny is perception of time and work load. I used to think that going to school from 9-3 was such a looooong day. After having worked 8 and 1/2 hour days, sometimes much longer, sometimes with little to no break, you wonder what on earth you where complaining about! Looking back at how little work you were actually required to do and how easy some of it was is kind of funny to me. Though to be fair, it wasn't that easy at the time. Like everything, relativity comes into play.
Bullying and teasing is pretty shitty too. For a couple of years I got called ‘Red Nuts’ quite frequently (for obvious reasons), I think I put on a pretty brave face at school but at times it broke me after school when it was only Mum around. Not only did I get bullied, I was a bully*. I’ll always feel bad about the time I teased Lee for a whole lunch time (40 minutes!). I was also the first person, in conjunction with Lee Brown to tease him on his first day at Penno. In fact, Lee Brown was one of the kids who teased me about having red pubes in Yr 7 (he and I became friends in Yr 8), make of that what you will.
But great things come out of high school. The best thing for me is Brooke. In amongst all the childish judgement and teasing I found acceptance, understanding and love! Turns out school wasn’t so bad at all, in fact I often think I would be cool to go back.
- Dogman
* To be honest, I wasn't bullied. No one really picked on me over and over and over. Bully is just an 'easy' word to use in this instance.
Love you Hamish! School was made so much easier by having someone you could completely trust and love. I really feel for people who had to come to school unsure if they had anyone to sit with at lunch and the only contact they had with people was to be teased. I admit that's highly unlikely but I don’t think impossible. School can be a horrible place and some days it was. My biggest barrier at school was caring what people thought about me whether it be about how I looked, acted or what I said. I guess I still feel that to a large degree and that's why I haven't written an article yet. Maybe I will soon though.
ReplyDeleteBrooke you were fine, everybody liked you! And write a blog dammit!
ReplyDeleteHow bout this fun memory:
Quincy's first day at Penno - walks over to our group, hangs around like a bad smell all lunchtime, then this:
Sahil (To Quincy): "Hey man, do you smoke?"
Quincy: "Umm, occasionally"
Sahil: "You might want to stand over there"
hahaha Quincy was such a FREAK - I wish I could go back to high school just to tease that guy.
But seriously, it is a weird place - no-one is themselves, I know I wasn't... Especially when Lee Brown kept calling me a roller-homo
Yeeeessss! A comment about Dean! Next step is a comment from him.
ReplyDeleteMy worst expereince in school was the first few months where I had Justin Hillerman and Sam Na for friends and in the morning I stood by myself wondering how to make friends. That and every time I had to do a speech.
Hamish I had the same thing with the hair. Like it became public domain and not my hair anymore.
quincy was a nice guy, thats why he went on to become king of the nerds.
Brooke just post an article. As long as you maintain the high quality standards and values that this site prides itself on, add a few 'lol'/'rofl' moments and a heartfelt message/lesson at the end then noone will laugh at you...at least not to your face
Do "Brooke's Poonani Preschool". By that I mean draw a pussy, by preschool I mean... I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteha haaaa... ahh, shit. what an article. Memories just shoot back.
ReplyDelete"you might want to stand over there." - classic
"Roller-homo" - whenever I think of rollerblading, I think of that, and think of how gay russel is.
It's funny, Now looking back, I reckon there is not one person walking around school with thoughts of everything else but themselves. Everyone is in their own head day in day out thinking about what to say and what not to say to make them seem cool. It's quite sad if u think about it. Although, maybe it's a stage that everyone needs to go through to grow up. nah, who am I kidding, that could all be avoided if the mood was right. Thats the problem with schools though, the mood was never right. Cept for the minutes that were the portable to the canteen with held. Probably the only time I ever felt at ease.