I so enjoy memes and thought I would participate in both "Flashback Friday" and "Company Girl Coffee" today. I seemed to need a little direction for my entry today and thought the questions from "Flashback Friday" would get my "creative juices" flowing. I'm looking forward to meeting some new "blogging buddies" over at Mocha with Linda, the hostess for "Flashback Friday" and of course, always enjoy visiting with my friends at Company Girl Coffee. Thanks to Rachel Anne and Linda for being such great hosts.
My first day of 1st grade |
What type of extra-curricular school activities did you participate in during your school days? Clubs? Spelling bees or other contests? Cheerleader or drill team? Sports? Journalism? Choir or theater? Were there any memorable events related to those? Did you receive any awards? Were football games a big deal at your school? Did you usually attend - and was it with a group or as a date? What was Homecoming like?
My extra curricular activities were very limited throughout my entire school days. In elementary I do not remember having any extra curricular activities except for piano lessons and that was not in any way related to school.
In thinking about my piano lessons I regret to say that I never remember enjoying my lessons or the practice that I had to do. Now, I am so grateful for those lessons and while I am no accomplished pianist, I can play and I can read music. I wish that I had really applied myself and not looked upon it as such a drudgery.
If my memory serves me correctly (remember, it's been 40 years since I graduated from high school, yikes!) I was in the Drama Club one year and the Science Club one year. I remember very little about either one, so they must not have been all that exciting to me. ~smile~ I was in choir 2-3 years of my high school years and I do remember enjoying that.
Before going any further I need to tell you that in my 12 years of schooling I attended 7 different schools in 3 states. Since my Dad was in the ministry we moved quite a lot. I did not even graduate from the high school that I got my class ring from since we moved towards the end of my Junior year.
Okay, back to the questions........yes, football was a big deal and I did enjoy going to the games. I could have cared less about what was going on on the field, I was all about the social aspect and visiting with my friends. I was always with a group and I remember having a good time whenever I did get to go to a game. What really "stands out" is that after the game we would all go to the local "burger joint" and get french fries and a coke and visit. Can you imagine a teen today getting excited about such? ~smile~
I was definitely not a cheerleader or member of the pep squad and anything related to it. I'm sure that was because I basically never lived anywhere long enough to really get involved in those things and my parents did not have the money for us to be in activities or groups that required money. And, I do not remember ever even having a desire to be a cheerleader. I had friends that were cheerleaders and I knew all the cheers and had fun shouting the cheers from the stands during the football games.
Perhaps for those of you reading this you are thinking what a dull "school life" I had. Well, I guess "ignorance really is bliss." I do not look back on my school years as anything but fun and exciting. I was given the opportunity to make many, many friends in each move and some of those remain very dear friends to this day. I always made friends very easily, I was outgoing and while I was not what you would call "popular", I was accepted.
While I have no regrets for all the moving my family did while I was in school, I really did not want that for our children. I do not think that all children have the ability to make the many adjustments that I had to make each and every time we moved. I am certainly not bragging on my ability, I just believe that the Lord blessed me with the gift of making friends easily and adjusting to new places and school easily. I'm not even sure that I did not look upon our family's "way of life" as something perfectly "normal." It certainly provided for me a lot of wonderful memories and great friends. I started the 1st grade in Ft. Smith, Arkansas at Sutton Elementary and graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, Virginia. There was about 1000 miles that separated the beginning of my school days and the ending of my school days. Wheeeeeeeeee! what a ride!
My Senior Picture - 1970 |
How sweet! Love the pictures! I cannot imagine changing schools so many times. I'm one of those children that would not have adjusted to all those changes well. I went to one elementary school, one junior high and one high school. I graduated with many of the people I went to first grade with and am still friends with many of them.
ReplyDeleteI was never a cheerleader or anything, either but LOVED going to the games. And like you, I never actually saw many of the games, it was all about the "hanging out"
Fun memories, thanks for sharing and have a super weekend. I am trying to get Chris to nail down a time to come visit soon, His grandmother's health is really declining and I want him to spend some time with her. I'll let ya know if we come! I'd love to have some real coffee time with you...although I'll partake with a diet soda! :)
Lea, your pictures are darling! What incredible skills you picked up, being able to adjust to all those moves. Er, I've been in my current flat almost 18 years, and it is in the same neighborhood in which I grew up, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI did participate in some extra things at school, but certainly not to the extent kids do these days. Fashions in things like that seem to come and go...it's difficult if the current "fashion" isn't something that fits well with your kids' particular personality.
Enjoyed the memories and the pictures. I would have had a hard time moving so much as I was pretty shy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating!
How fun to look back and reflect on memories! Thanks for sharing them with us today!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful you were...and still are! I loved reading about your life. You have such a peaceful soul and I love being connected with you over Blog-land!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful senior picture! I graduated in '75 and we moved houses a lot and sometimes that caused whole school changed. I went to 3 elementaries, 1 jr. high and 2 high schools, although we always attended the same school. So I can relate a little to what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a ride indeed! I enjoyed reading about your memories very much. What a blessing to be able to adapt the way you did! By the way, I graduated in the class of 1972. LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these memories with us! What a great way for us to get to know you more. I was in orchestra in elementary through middle school. In middle school, I join every single club, except for maybe 2. In high school, I was in 1 club. =p Never joined sports although thought about trying out for volleyball and cheerleading. I think I attended a homecoming game senior year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty picture! It sounds like your high school life was similar to mine...although we didn't move around, I wasn't one of those kids that stood out. I went to football games...not because I loved or understood the game..but because I had a crush on one of the players!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that you were able to adapt to so many moves!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I came to your comment about hanging out at the local burger joint. The kids at my church's youth group have taken to visiting a burger joint after youth group every Wednesday night--they take over a whole section of the restaurant. So that sort of enjoyment isn't quite dead in this fast-paced, entertainment-crazy world!
A fellow kindred traveler :) I lived in three states and attended 7 schools altogether before finishing high school. I was also like you in wanting my kids to have a bit more stability. And they did, for the most part, but that was mainly because we homeschooled. We actually moved 8 times from when our first child was born until the second one graduated from high school. BUT the last few moves were all within a few miles of each other and the kids didn't have to change churches or give up friends, so that was good. Except the year we went to Africa. Our daughter did NOT want to go (14 at the time) and our son was already in college. In the end, she LOVED Uganda (and even went back on her own for a short term mission trip after high school). And what a blessing when our son took off a semester and joined us for our final five months there. So many wonderful memories made during that time! While I have, at times, envied others for growing up in the same place and having family around and "roots", I know God used all of the moves in my life to prepare me to be a missionary :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute photo too!