Back to School

[Downtown]

So one evening, during a visit to the Guapo compound, over a case of beers, Dan and El Guapo, through crazy experimentation, build a time travel machine out of an old Volvo, that is fueled by Guap's mysterious KimChee Formula! They are graciously allowing Cyburbanites to go back to high school to sit their own teenage @$$es down and give them a 'splaining.

So what do you tell your teenage self? Advice? Something (or Someone) they shouldn't do?

 

[Planderella]

To be quite honest, I can't think of anything that I would change or do differently. I was a very good girl .

 

[Downtown]

I would have to tell a 14 year old me to have some self confidence to not care what the hell the popular people think about me and to stop striving to be like them, which also requires subtalks about:
-Don't pretend you're stupider than you are. You don't have to share that you got a 95 on a quiz, but don't lie and say you got a 70.
-Don't ever sell out your friends to hang with a "cooler" crowd (yes - i'm totally ashamed of 15 year old me for doing this)
- And girl, for god's sake, slow your @$$ down, running down those stairs in your drama production costume of high high heels and low low neckline. Save yourself and the shop teacher some embarrassment by preventing a fall down those stairs and falling out of your dress.

sigh. that's the short version.

 

[Wannaplan?]

"Trim that goddamn mullet and get rid of the AC/DC and Iron Maiden t-shirts! And by the way, Heather Gettings does want you, so stop masturbating already! And by the way, that Ray friend of yours is a loser. He is not cool! Get rid of him and hang with a new crowd."

 

[nerudite]

I loved high school... I probably wouldn't have changed too much. I went to the same school from 6 to 12th grade, so everyone knew each other and there were no cool/uncool kids, as we were all various shades of geek that had to test to get into this school.

I guess the only advice I would really give myself is to dump my boyfriend before going to college... before he made my life a living hell.

 

[jmf]

The first thing I would do is take myself clothes shopping. I don't know what I was thinking then - well, probably a lot like now - it fits why worry about other details. Related to this i would toss all the pants my mom would wear and go out and buy jeans, no matter how much my dad grumbled (to this day he HATES jeans).

I would tell myself not to eat more when my dad encouraged me to lose weight. As the class bully proved, I fit in a locker, a tight squeeze but I fit, why did I need to be any smaller and now I would kill to be that little!

I would have stopped myself from giving a Valentine's Day card to the cute boy, it did nothing but make him act awkward around me for the next few years.

Other than that, when I think about high school, I wouldn't change too much, everything I did then set me up for a great time at university. I learned enough about studying to make the work easy and I went to a university where few people I knew went so I wasn't confined to the me I was in high school.

 

[jmf]

I guess the only advice I would really give myself is to dump my boyfriend before going to college... before he made my life a living hell.

You said it! My husband coaches a high school girls volleyball team and when they ask me advice about university that is the first thing I tell them. So many of my friends wasted time and energy on trying to keep a long-distance relationship up during first year.

 

[The Irish One]

Talk with her more, bail on that other girl, and meet way more girls! If it's one thing I regret it's not hanging with enough girls that I could hook up with. I was way too horny to be stuck in friendsville -oh that really sucked!!!!!! More confidence would have been great!

 

[mike gurnee]

KMateja pretty much said it all. Especially the confidence thing. Except I didn't wear heels/low cut dresses until after college.

 

[NHPlanner]

Good thread Kel....

1. I'd have spent more time out with friends (I was a homebody outside of sports and girlfriends....and there weren't many girlfriends)

2. I'd have not looked down at my fluid swollen knee 2 days before the homecoming football game my senior year (ended up passing out, falling off the trainers table, breaking my fall with my face on a concrete floor, in the hospital with a concussion, missed 2 games, probably was the difference between all-state and all conference).

3. I would have never asked the girl I went to the prom with, nor have spent as much time at the prom consoling a friend that ended up stabbing me in the back by the end of the night.

4. I'd have stayed the heck away from my junior year girlfriend....messy, messy situation....a story for another time.

I'm sure I could think of more....but for the most part, I enjoyed HS...just wish I had a bit more of a social life while I was there. Of course when I think back to my high school days...I feel like an old cradle robber, since my wife would have been in elementary school at the time.

 

[kms]

Apply myself; I'm much smarter that the guidance counselor let on. I guess there were too many students to take time out to encourage one.

Don't date one person exclusively. I didn't until I was a senior, but it messed things up.

 

[Cardinal]

Dude, get a new haircut, you look like John Denver.

Oh, and work a bit harder at math. It may suck, but you are going to have to take more of it in college.

 

[Seabishop]

Join Beaner in throwing the puffy mullet clippings and iron maiden t-shirts away.

Actually try thinking about what you want to do in college and beyond. Just "going to college" isn't a good enough goal. (Should I warn myself against planning?)

Don't be afraid of being a "joiner" - high school kids are supposed to belong to dorky clubs.

For a variety of reasons you're not one of the popular kids - move on.

Don't worry - after high school no one will ever see how bad you are at basketball again. Although, if you start going to the gym now - you'll look like a man in 10 years.

Get into a fight with a smaller kid to boost your confidence.

Stop hanging with the punky neighborhood kids immediately! You have friends in school who are much better people.

Don't be so damn shy - talk to someone you don't already know once in a while including [gasp] girls. Yes, even you will eventually find someone.

 

[Tranplanner]

1. Don't wait until your face is a mass of zits and blemishes before seeing a dermatologist...

2. You will eventually lose the baby fat and get taller...much taller.

3. You will actually turn out okay after all...

 

[Chet]

1. Put down the 12-sided dice and run far far awway from that Dungeons and Dragons clique

2. Michelle will let you get to second base but no farther. Stop wasting time.

3. Advanced Placement History is a waste of time. Take the regular course and coast through.

4. That diesel Chevette is NOT a cool car. Neither was the Plymouth Duster.

 

[pete-rock]

Words of wisdom for little pete-rock...

I think I would've gone back and told myself not to fall prey to the high school cliques. Going into high school, I wanted to be a three-sport star with a 4.0 GPA. When I got there, I saw the jocks and brainiacs didn't co-exist, so I tried to walk this middle ground of not exerting myself in either realm. So, little pete-rock:

1. Boost your confidence! Don't be afraid to go your own way!

2. Go to the prom!

 

[PlannerGirl]

1) realize the teachers are full of crap and just trying to scare you-college is wayyy easier than they say and you wont have to read all those cheesy books.

2) loose the long skirt and southern baptist/prude gig, your a wild woman waiting to come out-get on with it!

3) being a geek will pay off later in life, besides its fun to be a geek

4) snub your nose at the cheerleader hoes, you will end up a model and they will end up knocked up and on wellfare.

5) dont stress so much, lose the glasses and buy some jeans and you will be fine.

 

[Repo Man]

1. I would have put forth at least a little effort in some classes. I really don't recall doing much homework in high school. I do remember a lot of skateboarding.

2. I would have probably asked out some of the females that I liked instead of being too nervous.

3. I would have told my guidance counselor off. He told me that I should focus on tech school becuause I probably wouldn't get into any of the colleges that I wanted. (I got in to all of the schools that I wanted and went on to get my masters)

4. I would tell my advanced math teacher that I really DON'T need all of those useless formulas in real life.

5. I would have played drums instead of the saxaphone. (Yes, I was a band geek)

 

[el Guapo]

High School and a few years after....

1. You will never see ANY of these people again, starting the day after graduation. So screw ‘em. Don't worry what they think. Revel in your nerdiness. Play all the chess you want and go to that Star Trek convention. Dress like Capt. Kirk if that gets you off.
2. Pick a college major that doesn't involve much math. You suck at math. You always will.
3. Don't take that first toke in college because you will piss away a year of your life and about $6000 getting out of that world.
4. Say nice things to Jill D. because she is going to die her senior year from Spinal Meningitis. You sat next to her for two years and never said a word to her because she was “cool” and you were not.
5. Tell your friends Joe, Bobby, and David not to shoot themselves over the next few years. Because they really hurt the ones they loved, even thought they didn’t mean to.
6. Go to the prom and dance all night with Camellia you King of Geeks. She liked you and you were scared to ask her to dance.
7. Be nice to the gay kid, because he is having a hell of a hard time in the early 80’s at an army base school.
8. Buy a 1986 Volvo 245 Turbo GL and run Mobil 1 in it. Hold on to it and cherish it. Always wash off the road salt immediately.
9. You will never get anywhere with Heidi H. Give it up early.
10. Stay away from that blond German chick you will meet in Mannheim. She's trouble.
11. There are other pants besides Jeans.

 

[Tranplanner]

I'm getting the impression that we were all geeks, nerds or misfits in school. Didn't any cool kids want to become planners?

 

[nerudite]

I felt pretty well-adjusted in school... but then I didn't go to a regular high school, so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

Was I the only one to sneak into bars to watch music during high school (like seeing X at the Whiskey... ahhhh those were the days)? I think any geekiness I had was offset by a healthy dose of rebellion.

I'm still attracted to geeky looking types though... think Weezer or Matthew Good.

 

[Tranplanner]

I'm still attracted to geeky looking types though... think Weezer or Matthew Good.

Did you see my pic in the "post your pic" thread, before Plannergirl vapourized it?

 

[PlannerGirl]

hangs her head in shame

im sowwy i am major upset-we have some HOT planner friends and i liked too look ;-)

 

[Tranplanner]

Are you still drooling over Prudence?

 

[PlannerGirl]

well not JUST him, there are a few hot others

 

[Chet]

hangs her head in shame

im sowwy i am major upset-we have some HOT planner friends and i liked too look ;-)

HUH?? Did I miss something?

 

[nerudite]

Did you see my pic in the "post your pic" thread, before Plannergirl vapourized it?

You are a cutie... but you need some glasses like this:

 

[Chet]

EEEP. Those are the new frames I'm getting!

 

[nerudite]

Then you'll be quite the hottie in my books...

 

[The Irish One]

like seeing X at the Whiskey

She had to leave Los Angeles, is that song about you??

 

[nerudite]

She had to leave Los Angeles, is that song about you??

I had to get out... get out!

 

[SkeLeton]

hmmm since I just got out of school I can't say much....

But I'll say one at least: Don't be such a misfit damn it! You lost quite a lot of interesting people!

So I'll join myself to the geek, nerd and misfit during school group

 

[Downtown]

Ok, I see I'm going to have to do a "High School Clique" Poll. Although, my highschool didn't really have "cliques" per se. Mine was an extremely small, agricultural hick town, I graduated with almost the exact same 80 people I went to kindergarten with. If brainy people didn't play football and field hockey, there wouldn't have been a team. But there were definite stratas of "coolness" which for girls involved drinking and putting out, along with having large hooters and a mom that would buy your friday night booze. I was very mid-level, and for the most part, pretty happy in later high school. I just had way too much angst over boys. But Danie was right about how the popular girls end up.

 

[Tranplanner]

You are a cutie... but you need some glasses like this:

Actually...I do wear glasses, but just for distance (driving, etc.). They have thin/invisible frames though.

 

[NHPlanner]

well not JUST him, there are a few hot others

The question just begs to be asked....who else makes PlannerGirl's Planner Hot List?

 

[PlannerGirl]

lol well if Dan can put everyones pics back id think about telling, but im a fan of a man in a tux or a nice suit anyday (no wonder i date lawyers eh?)

I like BRAINS

 

[Downtown]

Some enterprising photoshopper should put together a "Men of Cyburbia" Calendar to sell on the schwag page. hee!

 

[Repo Man]

What about the "Babes of Cyburbia" calendar?

 

[PlannerGirl]

we all know one cant be a geek and a babe

 

[donk]

The school I went to was a regional school and had about 1800 students, with everyone from tech kids, severe learning disabled and rocket scientists attending.

I was a geek in HS too. Some of the reasons were home based, and others were me. I was more geeky/ less acceptable in grades 9 and 10, then improved in grades 11-13. I still am a geek, like reading sci-fi, comic books, listening to the Ramones...

I never did get into Star Trek of D&D. its a good thing or I would have been too weird.

Much like everyone else

1) Would have asked a few more girls out, especially the ones I found out later liked me and were waiting to be asked.

2) Would have started XC skiing or XC running in grade 9 instead of grade 13

3) Would have not went to as many concerts or clubs in grade 13, makes it hard to do well on tests when you are hung over or half deaf.

4) would have cut my losses ealt with a few friends, should have realized they were/are back stabbing manipulators. Can't tell i am a bit bitter about a few incidents.

5) Would have taken more tech classes, instead of academics.

 

[Tom R]

hs

I hated highschool so bad that I was 18 on July 11 and I joined the Army on July 12, mainly just to get away. I found it a refreshing change and new start and a rude awakening. I never new the word "mother" could be used in so many ways.

 

[PlannerGirl]

um at the risk of sounding dumb at 8am whats grade 13? Did i get to miss that one?

How many of you guys went to DODDS schools? I did and LOVED it, found it to be better funded, schools better built and the teachers far better than any normal stateside schools.

 

[donk]

When I was in HS in ontario, you had the choice of 4 year ( tech college and people with no further aspirations) or 5 year (university) streams. This is the final year for grade 13 in ontario and there is all sorts of talk of the double cohort kids and how hard it is to get into universities and colleges as there are kids on the 4 year stream and 5 year stream graduating together for teh first time.

Oh, i forgot one thing, it actually took me a bit longer then 5 years to get out of HS, I missed a semester when I went to europe and ended up having to stay an extra one att eh end. So actually I went to grade 14.

The other thing about grade 13 is that most people can legally drink during their final semester of HS, made for some pretty funny situations.

 

[Tranplanner]

Where did you grow up Donk?

 

[SW MI Planner]

I went to a smallish kind of rural school, graduated with 120 - like Kelly, they were about the same ones we went to kindergarten with, and there weren't really strong cliques.

I was very mid-level, and for the most part, pretty happy in later high school. I just had way too much angst over boys.

Ditto Especially about the boy part - actually it was angst over one particular boy.

What I'd tell myself:

*Not to be so darn naive, shy, and insecure
*Flirt and laugh more
*That the "first time" shouldn't be in the front of a junky old car in a school parking lot.
*That if a guy threatens to break up with you because you won't put out, your better off without him.
*The friends you have in high school that you think you can't live without most likely won't be friends with after high school

 

[el Guapo]

um at the risk of sounding dumb at 8am whats grade 13?

To paraphrase Tranplanner's sig quote; "their all a little slow, eh?"

 

[el Guapo]

*That the "first time" shouldn't be in the front of a junky old car in a school parking lot.

Yeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaa! Oh yes it should!


Sorry, I was channeling a teenage boy for a second.

 

[Chet]

Then you'll be quite the hottie in my books...

I'll see you in Denver, baby!