I was out of QHS when you started your freshman year but in looking at your yearbook photo in your post, different thoughts came to my mind. First of all, how pretty you looked! But also, how you seemed to want to disappear. I am so sorry your childhood and adolescent experiences were not positive. Although it took tremendous effort to work through the trauma, celebrate that you are not defined by that earlier period in your life. Celebrate every day!
' how many openly sullen classmates there were. Their broken spirits were palpable and made police mug shots look like the covers of Vogue or GQ.' I love this passage, and I can definitely relate to it. I look back and realize that I 'lost' any yearbooks I had through my many moves throughout the course of my life. I don't think of it as a coincidence as I never felt at home in HS. The cliques, the cruelty and the pageantry of school rituals just never inspired my introverted self. It took a long time for me to get over some of the abuses perpetrated against me and others. I often wonder why we subject kids to school in the first place. Thank you for sharing your life Stacey. I always enjoy your writing.
Thanks for your thoughtful insights, Nancy. One of the greatest tragedies and failures of our so-called advanced culture is, that the very institution that is supposed to enrich children and young adults does so much damage 🥲.
This piece is so compelling, with so many pullouts. Well done, Stacey! It seems you were about four when I graduated from high school, and my school experiences were very different. But regardless of what other people may have thought, I never felt like I fit in and I had a similar aha moment at age 44. I came across a specific picture in my yearbook that revealed the error in my beliefs about myself in high school. Your courage to share openly and honestly encourages me to also write my school story. Those experiences are paramount to how we grow into adulthood.
Wow!! This was an amazing piece of writing ✍️
This pretty much sums up my school experience.
Thanks for writing this. And for speaking the truth about those years that so many of us suffered through.🙏😔
Thank You! It's far too common...
Powerful writing! Brilliant use of humor!!! It brought up a lot for me. Thank you for sharing!!!
Thanks Stacie! 😇
I was out of QHS when you started your freshman year but in looking at your yearbook photo in your post, different thoughts came to my mind. First of all, how pretty you looked! But also, how you seemed to want to disappear. I am so sorry your childhood and adolescent experiences were not positive. Although it took tremendous effort to work through the trauma, celebrate that you are not defined by that earlier period in your life. Celebrate every day!
You nailed it, Meg! I DID want to disappear. It was a pretty awful time-but so grateful for the life I have now 🎉🙏🏻😇.
You did it, girl, and I couldn't be happier for you.
🤗
' how many openly sullen classmates there were. Their broken spirits were palpable and made police mug shots look like the covers of Vogue or GQ.' I love this passage, and I can definitely relate to it. I look back and realize that I 'lost' any yearbooks I had through my many moves throughout the course of my life. I don't think of it as a coincidence as I never felt at home in HS. The cliques, the cruelty and the pageantry of school rituals just never inspired my introverted self. It took a long time for me to get over some of the abuses perpetrated against me and others. I often wonder why we subject kids to school in the first place. Thank you for sharing your life Stacey. I always enjoy your writing.
Thanks for your thoughtful insights, Nancy. One of the greatest tragedies and failures of our so-called advanced culture is, that the very institution that is supposed to enrich children and young adults does so much damage 🥲.
Compelling and so very honest🥲
Thank You!
This piece is so compelling, with so many pullouts. Well done, Stacey! It seems you were about four when I graduated from high school, and my school experiences were very different. But regardless of what other people may have thought, I never felt like I fit in and I had a similar aha moment at age 44. I came across a specific picture in my yearbook that revealed the error in my beliefs about myself in high school. Your courage to share openly and honestly encourages me to also write my school story. Those experiences are paramount to how we grow into adulthood.