For the record, this has had 0 effect on my life. It's just that... well, I'm facebook friends with my 7th Grade teacher... and she recently posted pictures of her classroom door... and it's been giving me chills. First time I've seen a glimpse of Glenwood Elementary in years. Just the tiny bit you can see in the photos looks exactly like it did when I was in middle school. It's insane.
So here's an ode to my middle school days. Hindsight, don't fail me now.
The Miseducation Of Scott E Hall
So, for starters, we practically lived on the border of Stockton and Linden. Linden is a small farming town. Stockton is the straight-up hood. Glenwood Elementary was in walking distance of my house. All my neighbors smoked. Even some of the kids my age were already into it. While most students also lived nearby, we had kids all the way from the inner-city and kids from beyond the vineyards.
I never really considered my school all that racially diverse. A lot of white kids + a lot of Hipanics. That was it. But we definitely all came from different backgrounds. My dad was a math teacher (and still is). Some of my friends lived in trailer parks, some of them lived in mansions. It's been a shame growing up and seeing those worlds further divide before my eyes. I witness a lot of adults simply clinging to those with a similar socioeconomic status. I guess that's where we people find a lot of commonalities, but dang... I'd feel super guilty if I ever went on a cruise or something. We used to all play soccer with each other at school and now some high education and a fat paycheck makes you more deserving or something. Sheesh.
Here's some background music, by the way.
There were a few Mormons in the school; I was the only one in my grade. I remember our ward driving all the way to the Oakland Temple to do baptisms for the dead. My oldest brother Keith left for his mission in 2004, and I wasn't sure how to react. By the time I reached middle school, Mormonism was simply my shtick. I was the butt-end of a lot of jokes... and I made up most of those jokes myself. I was "the little Mormon boy." Had some fun with it. I didn't swear or anything. Didn't listen to rap (IRONIC, I know). I was a weird, quiet jokester... I think this part of my personality has stuck around. But gotta admit, Mormon childhood sounds like it was an extremely different experience for kids in Idaho + Utah. There are a lot of Mormons here. Which is cool and all, it's just bizarre to hear their different dialect + point of view when discussing spiritual issues. I think some kids actually thought about marriage back when they were in middle school. There's also a lot of gospel terms that get tossed around in regular conversation. Still getting used to that. And the low-key underlying tones of Trump justification have just become humorous to me.
For some reason, I was super good friends with my teachers Mrs. Baker + Ms. Matto. A few friends and I had lunch with them every day when we were in 8th Grade. I'd talk with them about my classic rock and joke about George W. Bush + John Kerry. Ah, the 2000's (sigh), It was a different time. 9/11 was fresh on our minds. Barry Bonds was my childhood hero. I hated Kobe Bryant. I was an encyclopedia of classic knowledge. I hated modern pop music + would always play tricks on the DJ at school dances. The poor guy.
I don't recall ever having a crush on anyone. But lemme tell ya, those mid-teen years are a hormonal train wreck. I always wondered how kids "dated" back then. Like, did their moms drive them to Burger King or something? Anyways... everybody talked about sex semi-ironically. They were all joking about it, only not. A lot of my buddies just wanted to get laid or whatever, yet the thought of someone so much as going on a date with me scared me crapless. Anything hormonal was just a fragile issue for me. Yeah, everything was a sex joke until things got real. I still remember this one time a 6th grade girl got pregnant and the reality of it all was insane. For all of us. While I feel like Glenwood gave a good informative sex-ed discourse, it's a shame that we never got to learn about actual relationships and human compatibility. I definitely feel like lots of adults (heck, myself included) are still learning about that for ourselves.
I remember our family visited Logan UT once when I was in middle school. I thought it was pretty legit, so I randomly decided I'd go to college there years later. Huh. I'm still here. It is pretty legit.
While my music taste has changed a ton over the years, I still vividly remember listening to Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run on a charter bus riding alongside the Pacific Ocean on the way back from our big 8th Grade field trip to Monterey. I also recall my buddy in the backseat peeing in a Gatorade bottle.
Here's some generic conclusive statements: To sum things up, I used to be a weird kid and now I've grown into a weird adult. Have I become a product of my past surroundings? Kinda. I think I've always had a case of looking at my current environment and purposely trying to be the opposite. I'm the goody-2-shoes among my liberal friends + I'm the rebel among my hardcore Christian friends. Whatever. I still make stupid life choices + get scared of dating + smell like B.O. sometimes. I guess that's just the kid inside all of us.
Here's a picture of my 7th Grade self dressed up as John Denver.
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