Long, long ago in a place far, far away…I had what may have been my weirdest experience. I've been saving the story, thinking I might make it my final blog post some day. But you're not that lucky. I'm not retiring yet. I just decided it wasn't worth saving. :)
When I was in the 8th grade, the local school board changed the boundary lines for the junior high schools. The new boundary line went right by my parent's house. All of my close friends were on
the other side of the line—I was literally on the wrong side of the railroad
tracks. So in the middle of the 8th grade I headed off, essentially alone, to a different school in another part of the county.
It turned out to be a wonderful gift. First, none of the new teachers knew my 5
older siblings. I had a clean slate--and
got better grades, except in French*. Second, it was a
great experience being dropped into a different (and sometimes hostile) environment
on my own. And it gave me an opportunity to conduct an experiment. I knew
I would never see most of those classmates again (I'd be back at the local high school in 10th grade), so at the start of the next year (9th grade) I decided to be more
outgoing and talk to more people…see what happened. I’d been pretty reserved up
to that point. If I made a fool of
myself with the new approach, so what???
The experiment started in homeroom on the 1st day of
school.
To be continued...
* I'd been a B+ student in French at the old school, but the new one used a different book and the teacher spoke very differently--I couldn't understand a thing she said. Also, my new French teacher had a mean streak and often belittled her students. After a month in her class I was fed up with her behavior. So when she said, "Mr. Ricademus, I'm getting gray hair waiting for your answer" I responded with a very cold, "I can see that, but I don't think you can blame it on me." That was the 1st time I was less than respectful to a teacher.
Haha, I can't believe you just left the story off at that point! We had two middle schools in our town too and somehow I feel like all the cool kids went to the other one. By the time we got to high school, everyone had formed their little cliques already. Oh those young, teen days... blah! :)
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
lol, I just wanted to set the stage. I've never been a fan of cliques--which may relate to me being stubborn about going my own way. Well, I don't think I'm stubborn, but a lot of people over the years thought I was--and of course they were wrong. :D
DeleteI'll be anxiously waiting for the next instalment of the story, Rick. Great response to your French teacher. And I'm glad you're not retiring your blog. It seems like quite a few bloggers are calling it quits, and it's like losing a friend each time it happens.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way. It's a strange thing to have a friend disappear that way. My intention is to continue reading and commenting on blogs after I retire my own. The next installment reveals the odd way I learned not to care what the "crowd" thinks. I'll always care what my friends think (for better or worse :), but not the crowd.
DeleteCan't wait to read how your experiment worked out. Very bold to step out of your shell at that age!
ReplyDeleteKnowing I wouldn't see most of those kids again made it easier. But the experiment did cause me trouble in ways I never expected.
DeleteWaiting in pins and needles to see how your experiment went. And you were a sassy kid. Not that I'm surprised
ReplyDeleteHaha! I was a good kid. The teacher didn't have the right to mistreat people, even me. :) My high school accounting teacher liked to give people grief, but not in a mean way. He pretended he didn't like me, but really he liked it when I gave him grief back.
Deletelol love to hear how the experiment went, and ugh French, I'm still learning French and it's freaking hard
ReplyDeleteHumans seem to be trying to get away from viewing things as masculine or feminine--except with the French language. It should be banned!!! :D
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