I don’t normally post memes here, though this one made me oddly nostalgiac.
1. Who was your best friend?
I’m not sure I could name an individual. We had “social clusters” more than anything.
2. What sports did you play?
As little as was humanly possible.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
I didn’t have a car when I was in high school.
4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
At home, probably watching Sliders on tv. lol
5. Were you a party animal?
Nope.
6. Were you in the “In Crowd”?
No, I was a a loner to start with, and towards the end of high school it became apparent there was no ‘in crowd’ just a selection of smaller niches.
7. Ever skip school? Where did you go?
Only with parental consent, and when I did I had to stay at home… I couldn’t go anywhere. lol
8. Ever smoke…anything?
Nah.
9. Were you a nerd?
Yes. Not only was I a nerd, I was a computer programming nerd. Nobody else in my grade ever submitted a database program written in two different languages (to compare and contrast them) for a science project. Nor did anybody else produce and sell their own multimedia CD-ROM including bad poetry, original MIDI music compositions and video montages.
10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No. The closest thing was I once got kicked out of the classroom for a single lesson. It was weird the entire classroom was being noisy and inattentive and somehow the teacher’s gaze fixed only on me. Though I guess that wasn’t too surprising. He had taught my brother who was a naturally gifted science student, when I failed to demonstrate similar abilities it was assumed I was just slacking off. Oddly only weeks ago I dreamt about meeting this teacher again in a restaurant and discovering that despite his methods he cared considerably about his students.
11. Can you remember your locker number?
I never had a locker.
12. Who was your favorite teacher?
Oh, especially towards the end of high school, there were a lot of them. Mrs. Foley and I joked about linguistic things I knew nobody else in the class got. Mr. Wallace had so much respect for his classes, he treated us all as colleagues rather than subordinates. That was really nice, it built certainly my own self-esteem and created a really healthy environment for discussion in class. Mr. Cleary my poor year 11/12 mathematics teacher (I wasn’t very good at 2 unit mathematics) admitted to listening to my community radio show and was very encouraging. Even my year seven maths teacher Mr. Spontak had a quiet, sincere patience that I was frequently in awe of.
13. Favorite class?
Economics with Mr. Wallace mostly for the reasons mentioned earlier.
14. Were you a bully?
The problem with social ladders is that, like real estate, it’s all about POSITION, POSITION, POSITION. Especially at the beginning of high school there was a morbid understanding that while someone else was being harrassed you weren’t.
15. School mascot?
I don’t know that we had one. There was a shield logo… and a slogan “Wisdom through knowledge.”
16. Did you go to Prom?
We don’t call it ‘Prom’ in Australia, but yes.
17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
[I'm assuming this question refers to 'Prom' rather than high school in general.] Probably. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the most exciting night of my life. My fondest memory was sitting at a table while my friend Lana (who is a very gifted singer) sang “That’s What Friends Are For” while another friend, Lynda, sat beside me making smart arse remarks… “What? What did she say Friends were for again?” Hilarious.
18. What do you remember most about graduation?
I don’t even remember having a ceremony for graduation. Our results came out in January, some months after our relationships with the school had basically ceased. I do remember a presentation night where I was getting awards for computer studies and information technology and I remember hearing people say really nice things about us as a group and me individually and actually feeling a little uncomfortable to be getting so much attention.
19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?
There was an excursion I think maybe on the last day of the school year, and we were near the canteen and a group of guys in our year (affectionately referred to as “The Primates”) started singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” to Lana. Much to her horror and embarrassment.
20. Any embarrassing moments?
Something I’ve done ever since I can remember is randomly emulate other people’s voices, especially if they have accents that are far removed from my own. And I had this PDHPE (‘gym class’ for the benefit of the Americans reading) teacher who had a really thick, I suppose Scottish (Welsh?) accent. And every now and then I would find myself just saying things in that same voice without even realising I was doing it. I made reference to someone on my radio show and adopted their accent at the same time. It was funny, but at the time I was really mortified, worried they would be offended.
21. Did you have a job your senior year?
I was doing radio, but it was an unpaid gig.
22. Who did you date?
Nobody. Woe is me.
23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
I alternated my lunch hours between two areas categorized by social group; the “primates” and the “drama queens.” And occasionally I’d be in the library.
24. Ever get into a fight?
One of my fondest memories was a hockey stick fight (we were using them as if they were swords or something) with this guy named Eric. It was a joke to start with, but we got a little caught up in the moment. I was amazed at how good I was at it. I guess all that Xena: Warrior Princess and Power Rangers viewing had its benefits.
25. What did you do after graduation?
I moved to Sydney for a few years and shared a house with my brother and a few of his friends while doing a Bachelor of Professional Studies (Commercial Music Management and Production) degree. Spent a lot of time on the Internet (how little has changed!), worked with Sydney based musician Charlie Chan for a while. Good times.
