Yesterday, just for a few hours, I was a teenager again.
Funny how going back to where you went to high school brings you back to an age where you were awkward, insecure, and struggling with a myriad of issues that today, seem trivial.
My high school years were tough. I’m not one of those who would say that it was the best time of his life because it wasn’t. High school did teach lessons that I can never forget.
I learned what it means to persevere, to dig deep and rise above the mental challenges and self doubt. I briefly tasted freedom, rebellion, and the invincibility of youth. I learned about loss, love, betrayal, and envy. I entered the fray naïve and emerged jaded and scarred, but alive. The innocence of my childhood was gone, now just a faded memory replaced with raw emotion and experience.
It was good to go back and walk the halls. It was a pilgrimage of sorts, trying to find the exact spots in the hallways. All the while, thinking about friends and memories that I haven’t visited in well over twenty years.
Twenty years later I stood next to friends and fellow alums and proudly called myself a Pioneer!
And at the end of the evening, I quietly made my way home, hopeful and happy I went one last time to see, to smell, and to walk the halls of my Alma Mater. As I walked to my car, I smiled at how eloquently Councilman Scott Galvin summed up how we all were feeling and how good it felt to visit again.
He was right, NMB still sucks!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
John,
Well said!. I am very glad I took the time to relive a part of my childhood, my teenage years, and revisit NMSH last week. Many good memories and many good friends came out of those 3 years which will remain with me forever.
Thank you to everyone who helped organize the event.
BEAT NMB….BEAT NMB!!!!
If it wasn’t for the fact that I currently live and work over 7300 miles from North Miami (at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands) I would have been there, too! I still bleed Green and Gray more than 25 years after I walked those storied halls. Proud to be – Class of ’83!
Great night, let’s do it again in a few years! It was great to see old friends!