The view down Sun Valley, the street my high school, Andress, is located on. So, boys and girls, what do we see in the distance lol?
Andress High School, my home from '86 to '89. I was a choir geek, on Student Council and STAAND (Students Taking Actions Against Narcotics and Drugs). At this point, my theater days came to an end, since the only way it seemed you could get a part is if a) you kissed the butt of the theater director and b) you were thin and gorgeous. I don't kiss anyone's butt, ever, and until the end of the 11th grade, I was far from thin. Very far...like 80 lbs. overweight. So I concentrated on my music and my boyfriend, and, going into my senior year, my anorexia, even though I didn't know I was suffering from it at the time. By the time I graduated, I went from almost 200 lbs to 110. Amazing how one can survive for a few days on one giant Tootsie Roll and a coke....
(Side note: '89 was the year Selena performed at Ascarate Park in Western PlayLand, our amusement park. I remember seeing her advertised lol)
Now, the band is down to 60 members, and quite frankly, sucks (RIP to the director that passed away way too young just a month after we met him for our Reunion. He said the Class of '89 band was the reason he became band director), the football team is pathetic, the campus is closed, the lockers are gone due to gang activity...it is just sad.
I had some of the best and worst times while here. I had a boyfriend that unfortunately mentally and physically abused me. I was an anorexic, but no one seemed to notice. I was stalked by a guy I had known since the 3rd grade who would probably, still to this day, say that I know why he did what he did to me, even though I have no clue. I loved my music, I loved Chemistry and worked as a lab assistant, I worked in the front office which had its perks lol. I was part of all the cliches at school: stoners (never did drugs, but they were fun to hang with lol), ROTC (my boyfriend at the time, David was part of it), music, theater, geeks, you name it. Heck, I even had friends who were part of a NE gang called the Bishops and had no clue! I was just an all-Texan girl :).
Tomorrow I will have some pics from a couple of our reunion parties. I wish I could have attended more of them, but alas, I did not, but what I did do I enjoyed a lot.
Until tomorrow...
4 comments:
I like that "I wish I could go back and be who I am now". I often wish, as I deal with drama, a lack of interest in education and what's going on in the world, and the general "what's in it for me attitude" of the young that we should be born adults and then go back to being children. Childhood and adolescent mistakes could be totally avoided when you knew they were coming!
Why would they take the lockers out???
90% were removed because they were being used to hide drugs and firearms. The students had a choice: no backpacks or no lockers. The majority chose no lockers and to keep their books in their cars. A lot of the schools here in Michigan do the same thing, although they haven't done it here in Oxford yet.
My heart aches for you, because your post was just so real about what high school was really like. I know what you mean about the good and the bad, all rolled into one. High school is like some sort of other planet entirely, I think. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be a high school kid today, and I was a teacher till 2007! High school is some sort of terrible obstacle course we are REQUIRED to get through, somehow, with no clue. Anyway... thanks for sharing all... <><
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