I went to an alternative high school
I know
How fitting…right?
We called our teachers by their first names and had art all day on Thursdays
It occupied one upper floor of an elementary school
I skipped class more than I should have
There was a student there we had nicknamed ‘Neil the Nazi’
He carried around a copy of ‘Mein Kampf’
Maybe it was just one time
I don’t really remember
It’s ironic that this was so relevant then
Because I remember feeling like one of the most ethnically diverse people at the school
And that is saying a whole lot about the lack of diversity
It was so whitewashed that I didn’t want my parents to attend my graduation
Afraid my father would show up in a suit with his big gold Jesus-on-a-cross necklace
And it would be like bright flashing lights above my parents
Announcing our difference
Ironic too because I looked like this at that point:
Different wasn’t supposed to be negative
Unless you were my parents in a sea of WASPs
Anyway
I went from a catholic all girls school
To the alternative school
It was like a culture shock
I felt like a displaced person
Or like someone who’d accidentally happened upon a secret society
Who didn’t belong
We did pottery
Drew live nudes
And smoked too many cigarettes sitting underneath hundred year old trees
Griping about life
Not knowing nearly how hard it had yet to become
I smoked so much pot
That I grew tired of it’s magic
I was dissatisfied with everything
I didn’t know then
What I know now
I thought high school was as difficult as it was gonna get
I didn’t realize that life was only getting started
It all seemed so endless and suffocating at the same time
I wanted to be free of my parental supervision
Separated from my cultural ties
I didn’t know my hardest battles were laying in wait for me
Lulling me into believe the worst was over
I’d soon become such an easy target
Thinking the war was over
Feeling victorious with no need left to fight
Little did I know
That it was all just beginning
I can relate to the misfit aspect so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a good quality to have 😎
LikeLike
Youth is wasted on the young
LikeLiked by 1 person
And health on the unappreciative
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen to that
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was gonna say ‘on the healthy’ but thought i sounded too bitter 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think fitting in with everyone else isn’t a good thing! Being different and being who you are is the only way to be. I think that if you can fit into today’s world, that is a horrible thing! I do not see eye to eye with many people because I tend to believe the world is a big joke and not a funny one, or maybe it is just the states is a huge joke! This is why I want to be a Canadian. I strongly believe that you are an amazing person with heart and soul that you should never forget!!
LikeLiked by 1 person