What Was It Like?

In August 2003 we started a section titled "What was it like?" with pages from people who had good or bad experiences at CVHS. We'd especially like to explore stereotypes. The TV cartoon "Daria" is about high school. In it, the smartest girl in the school is cynical and unpopular. The quarterback is as sharp as a stick of butter. He goes steady with the head cheerleader, who is his intellectual equal. The English teacher is a liberal wimp, the shop teacher is psychotic. The show's writers lined up the standard high school stereotypes like empty bottles on a fence rail, then picked them off like a gunfighter fanning his Colt .45. How true are the stereotypes?

What was it like for you if you were a jock, a BMOC, a brain, a cheerleader?
What was it like if you were one of the people who spent your lunch hours smoking out in back on the football field?
Given our size, 12 to 24 of us were gay or lesbian, What was it like?
These are the responses, in reverse chronological order; latest at the top, for your viewing ease. We need more.

My First Date: Love doesn't conquer all, exactly. Anonymous.

Reflections on 40 years: This lady's father told her she could not go to college: "We will not waste any money on you because all you can ever be is a wife and mother." She triumphed. Anonymous.

Running scared: (But liking some of it.) By David Walker.

Waste of time: A short, musically talented girl whose father got drunk and beat her. By Donnell Redlingshafer.

The Majorette: NOT your basic fluffy blonde. By Shirley Rhoades.

The Brain: He loved to learn. By Martin Draznin.

The Nerd: I had a book IQ of 142 and a Social IQ of 64. By Ted Pack.

The Rolling Stone: Wayne led a varied life. By Wayne Stafford.

An artist's memories: With illustrations. By Kim Solga.

A Plain Girl: Not everyone loved the high school experience. Anonymous.

Trying to Fit In: One girl's struggle. By Maureen Rose.