Family History Journal: Junior High and High School

Junior high was not pleasant for me. I returned to Andalucia after two years in the gifted program at Barcelona. Andalucia was a small school and I had known the others since elementary school. There was a lot of peer pressure to do a lot of bad things. I had a couple of good friends and especially became close to a girl named Tacia. That was probably the brightest spot in junior high. But it was a rough two years. It was also during this period of life that my parents divorced. I am thankful for a wonderful counselor and teacher, Mrs. Claudia Axton. She listened and helped me a lot. She also got me started writing in a journal which has been a blessing in my life.

High school was much better. We moved in with my grandparents when I started 8th grade. We stayed at Andalucia that year but changed the following year. So I went to a high school where I didn't know anyone...and it was a huge blessing. I took early morning seminary, and Sister Connie Stevens was my teacher. I learned so much from her and from seminary. I made lots of good friends...LDS friends and many friends of other faiths.

I worked hard in high school. I got one A-...the first semester of freshman English with Mrs. Hinderland. She was tough, but she taught me a lot about grammar and she really taught us the importance of integrity. She was a wonderful teacher. So many things she taught me have stayed with me and some of them I have used to teach my students. "The squirrel ran --- the tree." "And, or, nor, but, for, because, so, yet, either or, neither nor,whether or, not only but also" and others.

I had great English teachers that introduced me to many great classics. Some of them I appreciated (I loved Crime and Punishment and really liked The Invisible Man). Others I did not like, but I am glad that Iwas taught to read challenging books and write about them.

My math teacher Mrs. Eul was wonderful. Other favorites were Ms. Petty who was brilliant but a bit scatterbrained and Mrs. Buffington.

I was in student council sophomore through senior year, and made lots of friends and learned a lot from that experience. I also participated in Key Club, Young Environmentalists club and National Honor Society. I took many honors and AP classes (AP American History, Government, Economics, Calculus, Spanish, and English). I graduated from high school with 24 college credits (at least I think that is correct). Many of them didn't actually get me out of general Ed requirements at college because the education major had very specific requirements for most of the generals...but they did allow me to register earlier than others so I almost always was able toget me classes I needed or wanted.

I enjoyed going to high school as well as stake dances. Richie was one of my best friends and we loved swing dancing together.

I loved girls camp and have so many fond memories of camp and of young women's. But I will save them for another time.

While I would never say that high school was the best time of my life, I loved high school. I did well and had friends and it was a happy time for the most part. College was probably even better. And life since then has been great as well. I have been richly blessed.