High School

I’ll skip forward to High School – Jr High was a three year period without much interest or regret. I was in orchestra (I started playing violin in fifth grade), did really well in math, science, and most everything but Spanish (which turned out to be ironic).

High School was in many ways a burden to get through. While I had a handful of great teachers (Thank you Mr Fanning and Mr Scribner!) and a great debate coach (rest in peace Mr XXX) by and large the teachers were just OK. I made National Honor Society as a junior, something that thrilled my father to no end. My debate partner and I took second place in the state tournament (we was robbed!) and I loved writing for the school newspaper. (Barb, if you’re reading this, I am sorry that I didn’t use an editor.)

That is "Tally Tower" in the middle of the image

(That is the Tally Tower in the middle of this image, where we put the paper together. I had a key, and a lot of free time. I spent many hours there)

As a summer job in high school I worked at St Mary’s Cemetery. Some famous residents there included my mother, my namesake, and Joe McCarthy. It was a good job at minimum wage. The next youngest person there was the sexton, who was 68. Needless to say, we didn’t work too hard. I think that is where I got my work ethic.

My official High School Graduation photo.

My unofficial graduation photo. That was in the paper. I don’t think I was paying attention to Kimberly Taylor as she gave her graduation speech. I think it had something to do with this not being an end, but a beginning