High School

A friend and I went to a pancake feed this weekend at one of the local high schools and I had a blast. Mark is a fun guy and I enjoyed hearing about what high school was like for him. It was sort of nice to get sentimental over high school. It will be eight years this summer since I have graduated. At times it feels like forever ago, but other times it seems like only yesterday.
High school is a weird thing. After growing up watching Bayside High school, West Beverly High school and Shermer High school in Shermer, Illinois (Brat pack fans know this one!). I had high hopes for high school. Out of those three, the closest to reality was Shermer High school - with its ups and downs. I wanted to share something I wrote, shortly before graduating college. The night I wrote this I remember my roommate and I discussing our very different high school experiences on our respective sides of Kansas. I realized that I never really expressed any gratitude to my high school teachers who, for most, gave their all to their passion of teaching. Mr. Smajda, Frau, Doc, Mrs. Radio and all the other great people of BVN thank you!



It’s been said that you can’t truly appreciate something until it is gone. This is true in many aspects. I never truly appreciated being able to eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted, being able to see a consecutive sunset then sunrise without sleeping, and the opportunities I had as a young adult in Leawood, Kansas. As I prepare to graduate from college this spring, I’ve stepped back to look at how I have gotten to this point in my life. As a freshman at Blue Valley North High School, I had the world at my feet and a compass in my hand. In four years, my mind expanded as did my horizons.
I learned that early mornings, militant upperclassmen and a mild case of frostbite were just small prices to pay for a successful marching band season. My eyes aren’t what they once were and I can’t take a picture if anyone is posing, but yearbook day is still just as exciting as Christmas. It took a while but I finally figured out polynomials and how to diagram a sentence. The confidence gained from acing a math test is more incredible than having the best dress at homecoming. You learn that history and life are all around you when you're going through hell week in military school style to bring literature to life and developing a deeper appreciation of the Beatles thanks to history class. You’ll have to forgive me, but I am hopeless when it comes to chemistry. I will never forget the joy of placing my order correctly at a restaurant for the first time in Germany. None of these things would have been possible without the help and guidance of the teachers who helped my fellow classmates and me.
Thank you to my teachers who never lost faith in me, even when my homework was half-finished and I could only do half a pull-up in gym. Thank you to my teachers who made lessons interesting. Play-doh figures of Caesar and Brutus brought Shakespeare to life. The Bolshevik infomercials will not be forgotten. Thank you to the teachers who kept us students at the edge of our seats during the state championship basketball seasons and first hour check-in…Fitz! While the world was ever-changing outside the walls of Blue Valley North, there was warm familiarity inside. Between the tragedy in Columbine, the threat of Y2K and conflicts over seas, we students kept our heads up and our eyes bright with the knowledge that we held the future in the palms of our hands.
In high school, these blessings seemed an annoyance, a burden, but when I came to college, I saw that not everyone knew these wonderful experiences. That is when I truly saw the value of everything that I had known. As I prepare to jump off the diving board, into the deep-end, I feel excited. Though there is some apprehension as to what the “real world” will hold for me, I just remember back to my freshman year as I walked up to the doors of Blue Valley North and a kind woman’s smile (Dr. Sanders!) eased all my fears. So even though those days are only recently gone, I do appreciate the wonderful memories they’ve left behind. As I take the next step of my life I know there is nothing that I can’t handle and my compass will forever be pointing North.