A lot has happened since then.
I wish I had known then what I know now. Wouldn't we all?
Some things I thought were important then really wasn't. My high school self stressed way too much about things which turned out not to be as important as I thought it was at the time..
If I could go back and visit myself in high school, here are some things I would tell me...
"The prom isn't as important as you think it is."
I stressed way too much about going to my high school prom. I wouldn't have been scarred for life if I hadn't attended. It's funny - and ridiculous now - to see today's elaborate "proposals" which sometime overshadow a marriage proposal. Trust me - the prom isn't that important.
"Respect the good teachers and hold accountable those teachers who weren't."
I had some good teachers along the way and then there were teachers who try to be "popular" with the students usually weren't the best teachers. You don't need them to be your buddy, you need them to prepare you for life. I remember an English teacher who never taught our class and his class was nothing more than an extra study hall period. He was a horrible teacher. He cared more about letting the jocks pass his class and be their buddy than teaching them English.
"Don't stress when people ask what you plan to do after high school."
You are not "locked in" to what you tell people you are going to do after high school. I didn't realize that I was never locked into whatever I told people I would do after high school. If I had known, I could have really had fun with this and either told people something different every time they asked or told them some outrageous plans. What's funny is that the current job I am doing did not exist back then. There is no way I would have dreamed I would be doing what I am doing now so I could have just made up anything just to mess with people and taken the stress off of thinking I needed an answer.
"After high school is over, it's over. Move on."
I have seen too many people who continue to try to re-live their high school days. Let me tell you that when it is over, it is over. Move on with your life.
"People you knew in high school are not frozen in time."
Classmates in your high school yearbook will change. Life changes all of us. Just because you remember someone a certain way doesn't mean they stay that way forever. We all change. I know that I am not the same person I was 40 years ago.
"Education does not end."
Graduating from high school is not the end of learning. The only way we improve is by learning and education will continue after high school.
I'm glad high school is over. I couldn't wait to leave home and start my journey on who I have become today. A year before I graduated, I had signed up for the delayed enlistment program for the United States Air Force. Just 22 days after receiving my high school diploma, I boarded a bus at the Greyhound Bus Station for Ft. Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina and start of my career in the Air Force. The specialty which was reserved for me was not available. I had signed up to be an Armament Systems Specialist but days into basic training I learned that the job was no longer available and I had the option to either choose another job or return home. As tempting as returning home seemed at the time, I flipped through a manual of available jobs such as Fire Department, Security Police and Food Service. I decided on Administrative Specialist. My main motivations for choosing this career field were the shorter technical school and availability to more assignments.
Attending college was not an option for me and it really wasn't expected during that time as it is now. My parents couldn't afford it and the high school guidance counselors didn't offer guidance for students with my skin color. After I joined the Air Force, I did start college courses; however, my military assignment made it nearly impossible to keep my momentum.
I had planned to have a career with the Air Force but I changed that plan when it was time for my decision about re-enlisting after my second term. I made the choice to venture out into the civilian world and another career.
I never dreamed then how my life’s path would go. My path travelled through accounting, post office, private investigator, paralegal, sports writer, computer specialist, litigation technology specialist and eDiscovery specialist. There's no way I would have planned any of this and high school was just the starting point.
Some people stay in the same town where they graduated but that was not my life. With attending nine schools in my 12 years, I wasn't one that stayed in one place long and since graduating from high school I never moved back to Savannah.
My parents and grandparents were there to see me graduate from Tompkins that day. Sadly, they are no longer here. I would like to tell you that their advice and guidance helped me along the way but it never really happened that way for me. For the most part I have had to live my life and learn from my mistakes along the way. As I reflect on my life 40 years after graduation, I can't say that high school prepared me for life like most would want you to believe. It was a starting point much like the start of a marathon. When the diploma was placed in my hand, I was off. My race had started and I haven't stopped.
