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High School Hasn't Changed

Not long ago, rummaging in the basement for a sledgehammer, I ran across one of my old high school yearbooks. I hadn’t liked high school, and so I decided to peruse the yearbook -- in effect, giving high school a second chance.

Well, it was just as bad the second time. The most handsome boy and most beautiful girl didn’t seem all that handsome or beautiful to me — just average looking. The most popular boy and girl were never especially nice to me.

The members of the football team, of which I was one, seemed puny. But I had to play football in my small town in order to gain any credibility at all. The football coach once told me that it was OK to like baseball, too. That’s as close to the liberal arts as I ever came in high school.

I also noticed that my school had all sorts of other awards so that nearly everybody, except me of course, could win one. There was an award for best groomed and friendliest and so forth. I’m surprised there wasn’t one for best ponytail or best crew cut.

Of course, part of the high school problem is that adolescents go there. It’s a terrible time to be alive, caught as you are in confusion between childhood and adulthood.

Finally, by the way, I was voted most representative. I asked, “most representative of what?” They told me I didn’t want to know. Anyhow, whoever said that “life is torment and loneliness but still better than high school” has my morbid agreement.

I’m Tom McBride, and that’s my Perspective.

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