The Time Has Come

I came across my high school yearbook the other day and merely tossed it aside, but then I decided to take a glance at what was once my life. My initial thoughts on high school mainly consisted of how I was glad I won't have to go through that experience again. I don't think I could handle the six hour days of monotony. Sitting in various classrooms five days each week forced to do busy work or risk the label of a slacker who will not succeed in life. But then I remembered all the good times that occurred within the walls of that failing building that gracious enough to provide me with secondary education.

Personally, each year of high school was better than the last, ending with a senior year that was by far my favorite of the four years. I always need a little time to get adjusted to new settings, but I'm probably mostly going to relate to senior year here because it was great! Maybe at some point I will come back to the whole high school thing and create a timeline of some sort to document what I can remember from that time in my life, but no promises. Anyways, one of the first thoughts that comes to mind when reminiscing about high school is all the people I met. Some were great and I still keep in touch with them, while others I could care less that I haven't spoken to them since graduation.

The first thing I noticed when beginning the journey through the year book was obviously the cover. The title of the book reads: The Time Has Come. I think that means that the time has come to graduate, but we all know that it really means the time has come to get the hell out of this shitty place and go on to better, much more meaningful things. Well, at least that's what it's supposed to mean, but I'm quite certain that where I went to high school, those years were the highlight of many of my classmates lives. I know it sounds very sad, but it's true. My high school is a classic example of the big fish in a small pond saying. But enough with the negatives, at least for now. I just think the title of our yearbook is comical. The next thing I noticed was the messages from classmates who signed my yearbook. Thankfully I can say that people only had good things to say to me, unless they were lying of course, but I'll never know, so I don't give a shit. It's funny to read the messages and comments now because it puts me back to that time of my life.

There are lots of comments that revolve around the fact that my family was moving out to California for a while. In the end, I only ended up actually going there for two winter breaks, but I guess that means I barely ever came back to my hometown for about eight or nine months for those first two years away at college. Now I'm back home writing this stupid shit. Some other comments mention seeing me in the Olympics someday. Those are classic because I'm not really that good at track, I just ran against a bunch of people who were much worse than me. Don't get me wrong, I had a phenomenal time doing it, but there are just lots of other athletes who are much better than me. Other comments remind me of all the good times we had in high school, such as the nonstop fun my friends and I had in "economics" senior year. There are also some about physics class, I remember spending countless hours trying to do that stuff. My advice for anyone taking advanced physics courses: don't forget to divide by the mass of the earth! (inside joke)

I had one person give me their phone number........it was from a guy, and no he is not gay, at least as far as I know..... I just think that is funny on many different levels and deserves to be shared with the plethora of readers I have. I proceeded onto the pages at the beginning of the yearbook dedicated to the seniors. My favorite part of the biographies to look at is the future ambitions section. Most of my classmates wrote serious things about being happy and successful. My future ambition was a complete joke. Obviously everyone wants happiness, success, and all those wonderful things, but what else do you want? One person did say that they had no goals in life, I give that ambition props because it's funny! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, one of the best things about looking through yearbooks is laughing at all the hideous photos that are in it! Some people take horrible pictures and I love it! I also didn't realize how many people in my graduating class I don't know. I guess I just won't feel as bad if I laugh at them.

Then came the class celebrities, those are always fun to look at. I still remember when my dad was looking at this part and he came across the best dressed section. He looked at it and said to me, "best dressed, do they vote for whoever dresses most like a gang member?" Besides that, I don't have much to say about this section, it's mostly a popularity contest, but then again, what isn't in high school? I actually don't have much else to say about the yearbook in general. Although it is funny to experience the affinity for the shitty high school football program that we have. I still have no idea why everyone cares so much if our team beats our rival each Thanksgiving, it's not like it actually means anything. I should be ashamed to say that, after all, it is the highlight of some people's lives. Shame on me.

The rest of the book is filled with pictures captioned with very generic, unimaginative phrases. The sports section highlights what is the pinnacle of most student's athletic careers, culminating in the glory of participating on the varsity squad. I guess the rest of the yearbook just flat out bores me until I get to the end to read the last few messages written by friends. Looking back on my high school years, it was the people that surrounded me that defined my experience. I did have a lot of great friends and was fortunate enough to meet many great people. While I did come in contact with many sleazeballs and sketchy people, I have to say that at least 25% of the people I went to school with were great! I'm also probably never going to a class reunion, simply because I don't really care. I'm in contact with the important people and I'm not interested in which of my classmates are getting married to each other. I don't even understand why reunions are even necessary anymore with today's social media and the fact that practically everyone goes to the same state college. But then again, I don't understand a lot of things. What goes around comes around. Holy shit this blog post is dragging on, I do understand why no one reads my crap!