Friday, March 18, 2011

The Hallowed Hallways: How to Get Through Hell

The first high school I attended, my fellow readers, was the illustrious Academy. It is a college prep, Catholic high school that does not allow tardiness. Though I had a lot of superficial acquaintances, I did not have many "real" friends,  except Anne G, whom I will forever be grateful to. As a minority student among a sea of preppy white kids, I really struggled to fit in.

Although in looking back, the Academy prepared me today to be okay when I'm with a crowd of people who are much different than me, stylistically and racially. The funny thing is: I am connected with some of my old Academy classmates via facebook. They are mostly 30, married, and settled down with kids. I, on the other hand, chose to blaze a different and more independent trail. I am confident that rarely any of them lived on the West coast, got an internationally oriented graduate school degree, and/or spent a fun urban existence in Manhattan like me.


At the start of my junior year, I transferred to one of the best college prep schools in Chicago, which could be easily mistaken as an office building in Lincoln Park. As the "new kid", my high school experience helped prepare me to be able to adjust socially post college in several "new cities," ranging from Boston to L.A. Although I only really had two close friends, Jenny and Cara, they helped me navigate the cliquey hallways. We clung onto each other in survival mode.


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Oh Prom. Overrated.

I attended 2 proms. Both events mixed junior and senior year high schoolers.

At my progressive high school, it was completely normal to either a) go with a group of your gal pals stag or b) ask the guy you wanted to go with you to prom.

The first year, I asked a sweet, tall athlete named Tyler. Today, Tyler is serving our fine country in the military. After I took him, he also rescued a lady out of her car when she got into a car crash. I had to stretch my arms waaay up high in order to reach his shoulders. Now, interestingly enough, Tyler had "cool" friends, so the night we went together, his "cool" friends actually talked to me. After that, I was totally invisible again.

Would I ask Tyler to prom again? Yep, in a heartbeat. He was very gentlemanly, opening cab doors.

Senior year I decided to be a rebel and ask a punky, red-dyed hair, GED kid who was a year younger than me. Since his father was a taxi driver, Sean couldn't afford a suit. Hence, at his request, we rented him a velvet, plaid tuxedo jacket. Sean was well behaved, but seemed very bored half the night. Later on, post prom, Sean got hooked on cocaine.

Would I ask Sean to prom again? Nope. I liked his quirky style, but he was not into dancing or getting to know my friends better. Do I feel like I missed out by not being asked by the guy? Not too much, actually, and I'm not sure why.