Good evening!
OOPPSS!!! I had typed out a post about my own horrible high school experiences, then went to track down the Barbara Cook quote, then hit "copy".. then realized that I had ended up "copy"-ing over my own post... Oopss!! Ah, well.. Must be a sign...
In short... DR Jenny - As others have stated, "It does get better." I look back at my own high school years, and I'm amazed I made it out of those so-called "hallowed halls". In fact, my mission my senior year was to get out of high school - not necessarily to graduate. Heck, I wasn't even too keen on colllege, I just wanted that piece of paper in my hand... And on graduation day when I moved that tassle over from one side to the other, the biggest sigh of relief came over me... and one of the most heartfelt cries came out of my system. Sooo much "stuff" in that one moment. Even my parents could not believe how much I was crying at my graduation.
-In short, I went to a private, Catholic high school in the Washington, DC suburbs. Kids from all economic, social, cultural, political, and, yes, even religious backgrounds. However, for the most part, it was a school of "rich kids" and "jocks". I was also part of a generation where the girls were supposed to be smart ones, and the boys were just supposed to get by grade-wise. Smart guys were automatically called "faggots". Soo... Into the middle of this sociological cross-section, plop a chubby, smart, Filipino teenage boy... And to make matters even "worse", this teenage boy had already begun to realize that he was "different" - gay - about two years earlier. Remember, I said "Catholic" high school... a Catholic high school full of jocks.
But here I am almost 15 years later, and I'm doing OK. Actually more than OK. And even though my high school years were not the most positive experience, I did learn a life-worthy lessons:
It's OK not to be popular.
It's OK not to have lots of friends.
It's OK not to be a part of the "in" crowd.
It's OK to be comfortable with yourself.
It's OK to have people like you for who you really are - and not who you think they want you to be.
It's OK to like yourself.
And just ONE dear, close friend is worth more than a whole bunch of "buds" and "gal pals".
-And, yes, everyone else are the "weirdos".
So, before this ramble turns into more of a ramble, here's the Barbara Cook quote I mentioned at the top of my post. She passes these great words of wisdom and
comfort during her master classes:
"It's so hard to believe that what the world wants is us. It's hard to believe, whatever you're doing, that you're enough. We are ALL, always, enough."--- Barbara Cook