A grown-up returns to kindergarten in pursuit of learning and happiness
I’ve completed middle school and begin high school tomorrow. Yes, I’m flying through!
This weekend I seem to have set a new record for posting. Of course, there are still a bunch of posts I’d like to write, including ones about the following:
- Seeing kids react to being graded, and remembering how much it affected me
- Trick-or-Treating on Halloween for the first time in 14 years
- How little of the material I remember from a lot of the middle school classes, and how little most adults would remember
I’ll do my best to write about these sometime this week.
Tomorrow I start high school at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. for zero period, and I have to factor in a 30-minute commute to Petaluma. Gone are the days of walking three blocks to El Verano or 15 minutes to Altimira. Long gone are the days where I filled my tiny red Honda with gas that cost $1.16 per gallon.
Though I’m excited to see my old teachers and revisit a school that’s close to my heart, I’m apprehensive to return to high school. High school is where I lost my way in my education, and I never quite recovered. Freshman year, I quickly got caught up in the achievement game, and I fell into a mild depression that always lingered in the background. I hope, as always, that triggering these memories will let me put them behind me and change course in the present day.
I can only hope that I have a better experience returning to high school than Billy Madison did.
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2 Responses to “Can’t Wait to Go to High School?”
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About Reschool Yourself
Reschool Yourself is a year-long exploration of how school shaped the person I became, and how I decide to educate myself from now on. This fall I'm returning to my old classrooms week by week, to understand how school influenced my identity and to regain the happiness and creativity of childhood. In the spring I'll pursue learning opportunities in the U.S. and abroad to become as autonomous as possible. I'll share my experiences of "reschooling" and personal development through this website and provide a forum for readers of all ages to exchange their own. This site is a place to tell our stories about education: our experiences past and present, and our vision for future generations.
— Melia Dicker
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Alicia C.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I’ve been dreading this part of your project. As you’ve gotten closer to high school, I’ve reflected more and more on my own experience. For the most part, high school messed me up a lot too. However, I loved Freshman year. I made new friends and managed to remain oblivious to “the achievement game”. It all went downhill Sophomore year… Hopefully you can maintain objectivity and not revisit your teenage anxieties too much so as to make the best of your time back at SVHS. Good luck!
Siobhan
November 4th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
OMG! Back to SV! Well, now that they have all that spiffy new stuff (gym, smart boards, etc) it won’t be anything like when we were there! I do wish I could go back with you! Exciting!!!