The Mystery Keeper: High School

This is the high school chapter of my life.
I was less nervous about ninth grade than sixth grade.  I had 80 minute classes in high school and each class was every other day. Music one day, English at that time the next day, repeat cycle, for example.  They weren't sure if I'd need a break in the classes or not. I never did unless I got upset. Then, I'd take a walk in the hall with my aide.  I made the high honor roll this year every marking period.  Until this year, I used a computer only at school or the public library, but I had so much typing of papers to do we needed our own computer. I had first used a computer in first grade at school, so I grew up with technology, basically.  Some classrooms, the music classroom, a social studies and resource rooms specifically at my high school have computers. There's also two computer labs there, if things are still how they were when I was there. We camped at nearby park with some friends Memorial Day weekend. I went on the girl's club camping trip again.  In New York, the state I live in, we have Regents exams at the end of the year in high school. I had a science one this year and my teacher called me up to tell me I got a 90 on it.  I went to summer camp at a different camp closer to home. A teacher from my school had a job there and I saw him at the last camp meal.  He'd been on vacation that week, but came back at the end.  I'd taken a music class from him and we knew his family from the church we went to when I was little.  I had memorized a lot of Bible verses between that church and the other church's girl's club.  I'd also read the Bible with that girl's club. We camped out in my dad's parents backyard but earlier in the summer, we spent a weekend with some friends other than the Memorial Day camping friends at a beach nearby. I live near a lake which is where this beach I speak of is. I still had swimming this year and also horseback riding.

In tenth grade, I had one less class with my aide.  Before, I'd only been on my own in Spanish and resource classes, which was a study hall for me as it had been every year other than seventh grade. I'd eaten lunch without the aide since middle school, though, I think. Now, I was on my own in social studies which took some adjustment. The school may have wanted to see how I'd do on my own as I'd grown up more now.  I wasn't a little girl anymore and perhaps more able to function independently.  It could've been another reason, since no one said why, at least not to me.  We camped with friends Labor Day weekend. I took an animal science class, which was an elective for me. Some use it to replace chemistry in their junior year. With biology, animal science meant two science classes. I was good at social studies and science, as well as reading and other academic stuff as a kid.  Math and writing were weaker, but still not bad, just not quite as good as the others. We camped Memorial Day weekend with our friends again.  I went on the girl's club camping trip again this year as well as that camp where my one-time teacher worked.  I graduated from Bible School, which I'd attended since I was preschool age.  I had some Regents exams this year, more than before but not for every class, just math in January, social studies, biology and Spanish.  The required high school math classes were 1 1/2 each. We camped with the friends we'd visited for a weekend at the beach last year at the same place we'd been then.  Once more, I had swimming and horseback riding.

In eleventh grade, I was a bit unsure how I'd do in some of my classes. These were math and English. My dad was more concerned about chemistry than English. but we agreed on math. I took SAT verbal prep for my PSAT the first half and health the other half.  Health was required but the other was an elective. It can be taken stand alone, which I did or with public speaking.My English teacher this year also taught SAT verbal prep.  I got a permit in February of this year and took driver ed. in the summer. Juniors get priority for that.  I skipped the girl's club camping trip since I had math, social studies, chemistry and English Regents this year. I think my English Regents made me nervous about English since it meant I'd write a lot in the class.  We had Regents practice packets, one of which had a NASCAR article in it.  I think she could be a race fan, which didn't occur to me, except perhaps vaguely back then since I had no opportunity to watch races at that time.  I had to write an apology letter to a teacher this year. Resource was mostly a study hall but part of the time was used to teach us things, like once it was apology letters. I had to write one to a classmate because of what I said when she wrecked her car, which was a kind of car I don't like. This was my last year of Spanish even though there was another class yet. That Spanish became a college class right before I was eligible for it, so the students that had it before my classmates had a different experience based on what the teacher said. I was inducted into the National Honor Society this year.  I'm unsure if we camped Memorial Day or not, but  we could have or at least visited our friends. We camped at a beach near the town this bike camp was held. I'd been unable to learn to ride with being held up as little girl and was too big for my mom to hold up after a while. My dad worked nights after I was in first grade, so he wasn't always available, so after I outgrew both of my little bikes, I just had a scooter to ride. I also had roller blades and then roller sneakers. I was slow when I drove my mom's car but fast on foot powered vehicles other than skates. Like at the bike camp, I made my spotters run. At first I rode my mom's bike sometimes when she wasn't biking, but then got a seven speed one my own at Wal-Mart.  I still have it and it's violet.   When we bike hiked with our original Memorial Day camping friends (our other friends got in on this), I could keep up with their two weeks younger than me daughter on my bike. I had originally planned to take some college classes as a senior, Pre-calc and the Spanish, but they didn't think I had good enough time management. I no longer had the math tutoring this year, which was a first since it started, I think but I had no hard math-math* after this, but I did take physics in  my senior year. This summer I took driver ed and had swimming but no horseback riding.

In my senior year, I no longer had as many required classes. Required was English, social studies and PE. The English was a split class, half a year with each teacher, unlike other grades which had two English teachers and it was one or the other all year. Social studies was a government class half the year and economics the other.  The halves could be in either order.  I took a business math type class because my dad wanted me to and my mom saw where he was coming from after she saw a description of it. Before she'd been disgusted because a neighbor lady who's no longer living now due to a stroke had said how she took a class like that and found it too easy.  Maybe it was different in my neighbor's day. I wasn't too keen on it since I wasn't interested in working at a bank or in a money thing, like accounting, economics or the business world.  I was more interested in a sciency type career.  My math and science were my non-required but good classes for me, the science because I was a college bound girl and the other just was by virtue of what it was. I liked science but not physics. It was frustrating to many students, me included.    My girl's club friend, who was homeschooled, had to go to homeschooling graduation camping weekend, so I didn't go on the girl's club camping trip since it wouldn't have meant as much without her.  My class went to a nearby water park one day, though. It was an enhanced Senior Fun Day since not enough of my classmates signed up for our senior trip to have that. The class two years before us had an enhanced Senior Fun Day, only they voted to have it at the Senior Fun Day site beach. The beach is one I went to with kindergarten summer school and the one our beach friends like. I voted for the beach, but was outvoted. I was too amped in a bad way (nervous) about my physics Regents to want to go to the park with my class, but I was told to go and take my review book along to do on the bus, which I did.  I didn't go to the scholarship dinner this year, since I missed the high honor roll once and just made the honor roll but was able to win some scholarships and awards.  I had five of one and four of the other.

Next week I just might finish this story when I tell about my life after high school. It depends on how much material I include from my college years. This summer, as a seventeen year old I learned the butterfly and also had horseback riding.  Since I hadn't been able to much in the driver ed. car the year before, I went to driving school. My mom had no vacation time built up from her new job but we went to the beach to see some friends, the same beach friends previously mentioned, one day, the Fourth of July, I think. My paternal grampa died in that July
*refers to how physics has a math element but falls under the science category