I found this old blog post sitting in my unpublished drafts folder and thought it was too curious not to share. So, now you can read about my not-so-grand return to my high school back in November! How interesting . . .
Today, I went back to high school. It's been about ten - no, TWELVE! - years - since I graced the halls of EHS and at least two things have changed. The driveway is now called "Wolfpack Way" (or something like this). There is a drive-through Starbucks and Taco Time (or equally ubiquitous fast food restaurant) at the entrance to the parking lot. And, yet, much has stayed the same. Kids still clustered outside by the flagpole and in the entrance hall. The girls still wore too much make-up and inappropriate clothes (leggings are NOT pants! how long can this horrible trend persist?!). The boys still look short, gawky, and uncomfortable in their skin.
Though I guess that, when I was in high school, I didn't think that the girls were dressed inappropriately. I probably would have wished for a pair of my own leggings, only to be deterred by my father who would have never let me out of the house without proper pants. And, I probably thought that the short, gawky boys were cute because, well, I was also short and gawky.
Anyway, I digress. I went back to high school today, and it wasn't to assess the similarities and differences. I had the opportunity to meet with some pretty cool kids who are interested in international issues.
I had an idea! The Fulbright program is about international exchange and, with this in mind, I had the idea that I'd like to partner with a local high school while abroad. You know, to exchange ideas with some of the youth back at home. Luckily, I have an "in" with the kids - my former 9th grade Social Studies teacher now teaches World History at the very high school that I attended back in the day. He's also the advisor for the Global Action Project and leads a group of youth who are trying to learn more about global issues, engage their classmates in global issues, and - ahem - earn extra credit. So, I developed a rough plan and today I met with the youth. When I arrived, they were a total of three (one later wandered it). Only one of the kids really spoke - I presumed him to be the unofficial leader. One of the other silent kids kept staring at the clock, which was a little awkward since the clock was behind me and I was sitting directly in front of him. Toward the end of our meeting, I asked if they had any questions. They didn't. They seemed eager to leave.
I think I'd forgotten what it was like to be in high school and be more interested in your evening tennis practice and that rude post about your on Facebook (which didn't exist in my day, but we DID have the school website created by some anonymous wag - there was a "hot" list and a "not" list for senior girls; I was on the "not" list, which created endless opportunities for angst) than in international issues and the world beyond your sphere. Still, I'm inspired that such a club exists.
As an update, my plan was to send monthly video updates on life in Kyrgyzstan to the International Club at my former high school. Alas, this was a plan that was too good to act on. All conversation with the students and my former teacher has ceased and I haven't really had time to put together video communications. As it turns out, field research takes a lot of time! As a sad alternative, I can only hope that one of those students - probably the unofficial leader - stumbles across my blog, finds the posts about Kyrgyzstan interesting, and decides to take action himself. My door is always open and my couch is not too uncomfortable, should he develop an interest in visiting. In which case, he can make his own video updates to send back to the high school club.
Today, I went back to high school. It's been about ten - no, TWELVE! - years - since I graced the halls of EHS and at least two things have changed. The driveway is now called "Wolfpack Way" (or something like this). There is a drive-through Starbucks and Taco Time (or equally ubiquitous fast food restaurant) at the entrance to the parking lot. And, yet, much has stayed the same. Kids still clustered outside by the flagpole and in the entrance hall. The girls still wore too much make-up and inappropriate clothes (leggings are NOT pants! how long can this horrible trend persist?!). The boys still look short, gawky, and uncomfortable in their skin.
Though I guess that, when I was in high school, I didn't think that the girls were dressed inappropriately. I probably would have wished for a pair of my own leggings, only to be deterred by my father who would have never let me out of the house without proper pants. And, I probably thought that the short, gawky boys were cute because, well, I was also short and gawky.
Anyway, I digress. I went back to high school today, and it wasn't to assess the similarities and differences. I had the opportunity to meet with some pretty cool kids who are interested in international issues.
I had an idea! The Fulbright program is about international exchange and, with this in mind, I had the idea that I'd like to partner with a local high school while abroad. You know, to exchange ideas with some of the youth back at home. Luckily, I have an "in" with the kids - my former 9th grade Social Studies teacher now teaches World History at the very high school that I attended back in the day. He's also the advisor for the Global Action Project and leads a group of youth who are trying to learn more about global issues, engage their classmates in global issues, and - ahem - earn extra credit. So, I developed a rough plan and today I met with the youth. When I arrived, they were a total of three (one later wandered it). Only one of the kids really spoke - I presumed him to be the unofficial leader. One of the other silent kids kept staring at the clock, which was a little awkward since the clock was behind me and I was sitting directly in front of him. Toward the end of our meeting, I asked if they had any questions. They didn't. They seemed eager to leave.
I think I'd forgotten what it was like to be in high school and be more interested in your evening tennis practice and that rude post about your on Facebook (which didn't exist in my day, but we DID have the school website created by some anonymous wag - there was a "hot" list and a "not" list for senior girls; I was on the "not" list, which created endless opportunities for angst) than in international issues and the world beyond your sphere. Still, I'm inspired that such a club exists.
As an update, my plan was to send monthly video updates on life in Kyrgyzstan to the International Club at my former high school. Alas, this was a plan that was too good to act on. All conversation with the students and my former teacher has ceased and I haven't really had time to put together video communications. As it turns out, field research takes a lot of time! As a sad alternative, I can only hope that one of those students - probably the unofficial leader - stumbles across my blog, finds the posts about Kyrgyzstan interesting, and decides to take action himself. My door is always open and my couch is not too uncomfortable, should he develop an interest in visiting. In which case, he can make his own video updates to send back to the high school club.
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