Nostalgia - My school years (Part 1: 7th Grade)

With my high school reunion only a couple months away and a plethora of schoolmates coming out of the woodwork, I dug through some pictures and brought a few in to share. (This was also inspired by Adam's school picture show and tell.)


Things I could barely tolerate remember about 7th Grade:

I schlepped computer stuff for my grandfather's computer repair business all summer to earn money for school clothes. My brothers did not work that summer AND still were outfitted with new duds by the time September rolled around.

I played basketball at the park near my grandparent’s house in my free time. I was 14 years old, a girl, and was good enough to not be picked last. Happiness is...

I got my braces off this year.

Somehow, (I say somehow because I was not one of the popular kids) I was not only nominated, but also selected as one of the princesses for the Valentine’s Dance “court”. Those popular kids recognized I didn’t belong and were as puzzled as I by the fluke that had allowed my presence. My “prince” escort refused to walk up to the front of the room with me until he came up with a Plan B – to rush me up there as fast as he could to show that he really didn’t want to be there and just wanted to get it over with.

I got good grades and was “teacher’s pet” in most of my classes. (Probably one of the reasons I was not a popular kid.) I hated when some of my fellow classmates rebelled and made our substitute teachers cry. Usually when the regular teacher came back, we were all punished.

Our school colors were yellow and black and our mascot was a… bumblebee? Hornet? Wasp? Some insect with a stinger.

My P.E. teacher had a round shape and skinny legs; she looked just like a bumblebee when dressed in our gym uniform.

I had a small group of close friends made up of both boys and girls. At the end of the year, one of those friends signed my yearbook saying, “[He] would have liked me as more than a friend if only I had bigger tits.”

We learned how to deep-fry donuts in home ec, use bandsaws in shop, and balance a checkbook in math class.

On rainy days, I painted a lot of abstract watercolors when P.E. was held inside.

I was tormented a lot by the popular girls' leader and her henchmen. Trying to fit in, I left the house in one knee-length skirt and changed into a short, tight, mini-skirt when I got to school. This queen bee and her cronies came up and surrounded me, asking why I had changed and that she thought it looked terrible. Ughh. (Self-esteem? What's that?)

My math teacher's name was Garr and he had hair like Elvis. Old Elvis.