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One thing first, thanks to everyone who listened to me whine
about gradschool or work. I’m going UW
this year for Applied Math (yay!).
However, Seattle
is cold so everyone please send me things to burn for heat. Money is good too. Actually, everyone just send me all of your
money!
Ok, so I’m going to rip off both Cat and Kim and write stuff
about high school and life in that nostalgic (can you tell I’m using spell check?)
sort of way. This is rambling so you proly should ignore this post but...its kinda long so maybe you should read it! If I recall correctly, 98 %
of Mudders graduated in the top 20 % of their high school classes. Now some schools don’t rank and all that, but
to the other 3 people in my position… I think we did ok! I guess that makes sense when a 4.17 is barely
in the top decile (Kim) and a 3.9 (me) is not even in the top 2 deciles.
Now, Kim studied her ass off sacrificing her teenage years
for her future. My grandma told me
stories of how she heard how hard other Iolani students worked. Basically, read Kim’s xanga if you haven’t
already. Pretty much explains it. While she sacrificed her childhood for her
future, I pretty much blew it off. I
went to bed at 8:30 until 9th grade.
The only reason I stopped is because my mom said I should go to sleep
earlier. Yeah, at one point I slept at
8:30 and got up at 5 am...such a change. I knew I liked playing soccer so I did
that. Wasn’t very good, but I learned
there that working hard can make up a certain lack of natural talent. Oh, except for Japanese which completely
kicked my ass. That was the only class I
studied for and I still got C. However,
I didn’t care cause I didn’t think it would matter, and at that time I guess it
didn’t. It was also that year I realized
girls actually don’t have cooties and that sex ed was the funniest class in the
world. There we talked about
condoms. Hahahah condom, hahahaha. (Ok, It still funny.)
Around that time I started going out with Beth too. All these years later, I realize how really
innocent and pathetically cute those early high school relationships were. Being naïve about the whole dating thing
probably isn’t the worst thing in the world. At that time, it was all new and
interesting. It was the same thing with
Yuan too. I’m still not a very social
person, but I think there is something special about highschool relationships. It is a special time and its all new. Now…yes there was a lot more PDA than I would
show now…but I think that was cute too. Right?
Right! (sorry for annoying you Chelsea) And if you combine that with proms, where I
did NOT make out with anyone…high school was a very unique time socially and I’m
glad I got to experience what I did. Oh
and TONS of gossip too.
Kim’s xanga talks a lot about academics and I really haven’t
all that much. I guess the one lasting positive
thing that came out of liking girls was that I got me to study. Thinking back, the only reason I studied was
so Yuan wouldn’t think I wasn’t a total retard. Suddenly, I wasn’t only a quiet person but a
quiet smart person (or so you all think, you don’t realize how wrong you
are) (unless you don’t think I’m smart…then
you just hurt my feelings). Even then
though…I didn’t work that hard and I actually had a good time. For instance, I remember competing with Edna
in Alg 2 (we both got A+ right?). I
honed my bullshit skills with Doc in physics B and C. I think it was only at the end of the year we
realized that he was just asking us questions from one homework ahead. Oh, and thank you Anne, Edna and Yuan (I
think) for working so hard at the labs so we could rip off your technique. I also learned that microscopes aren’t toys
and the 38th and 83 parallel are in totally different places and
should not be confused. Stupid Korea.
This pretty much takes things through junior year. That year had lots of gossip too. So much of it now is so petty, but at the time
it was my world and that was cool. Palehua
was awesome. I also think that was the
first time Kim actually talked to me! Sorry
Kim I would have taken you as my partner for the flashlight tag but I think
running off into the forest at night with a girl who I basically just met is
kind of sketchy...so much less sketchy than sticking ones hands in a girl’s
pockets…though I don’t remember that story myself. Oh also, Jerrene killed a tree…with her bare
hands. Poor tree. Vince threw his Frisbee of that random
mountain too, but it didn’t go very far.
I know I was disappointed by that.
Also, that year I started running XC.
I had run track since 9th grade but never XC. Fortunately, I’m apparently so tied to Pat
that everyone, even the coaches of the XC team, thought I had run since 9th
grade, thanks Pat! Oh, it was also that
year I think Pat, Vince, Iraha and I ran the Great Aloha Run and completely
pigged out on spaghetti and bread (mostly bread) at spaghetti factory! Edna came too, but I guess her swimming coach
never let her run.
Senior year is supposed to be the best year of high school
right? I think I was a more
stereotypical Iolani student at that time, taking 5 AP classes and all, but I
still don’t think I worked that hard. I
mean, physics is mostly BS and there are only two things to learn in calc. AP comp with Mr “Immortal Cigarette” Young
(for those who don’t know, he has a magical cigarette that has preserved him so
he will never die, its really a balance thing.
Cigarettes kill millions so it is only fair they will perfectly preserve
one human forever) was also pretty easy. Senior prom…the photo line was long and I hate
backseat drivers so I think I kind of ruined that. However, playing games at Adam’s house later
was really fun and made the nigh for me. While Junior prom will probably always be the
real prom to me because of that, I think that night was memorable as well.
Ok, so now I’m compeletly rambling but it was good to say
all of it. In the end, I think senior
year of high school was probably some of the most fun I’ve had in my life. Senior year in college, this half, has been
really good as well. The only problem is
that change is always there in the background. Despite all the fun times and people you meet,
there is always this nagging realization that everything is going to be
different in a few months and the people and places that you have learned to
live with and enjoy over the past years will no longer be there. I have been pretty lucky. I never changed schools before college so all
of the people I knew stayed with me. Even in college, I was lucky that there was
always Kim to talk to who basically understood where I was coming from and how
life at Mudd was different from at home. There was always that element of safety
provided by friends from high school who were at least on AIM or MSN. In little more than a month, college is going to
end and grad/pharm/med/law school, work, JET, Teach for America, or
whatever else will begin. I don’t know
whether it will be good or bad, but it will be interesting and I suppose that
is good enough for now.
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