Until the 8th grade, I attended small, private schools. The school I attended from 4th to 8th grade ended at 8th grade so my parents had to come up with a plan for me - where to go to high school. I wanted to go to boarding school like most of my friends were doing. My parents had neither the financial resources or inclination to send me to boarding school. My second choice was the local Catholic high school. Again, my parents put the kibosh on that one. So then it was public school and my parents decided that I should go to either Conestoga or Radnor high school, 2 of the best public schools in the Philadelphia area and consistently in the top 5 public schools in the state. Once my mom found us a house in Wayne, PA - my fate to attend Conestoga was sealed.
And I was pissed.
You see - my private schooling had given me many great gifts, the strongest and not necessarily the greatest among them? I high level of snobbery about education. Put frankly, at the ripe old age of 13, I was thoroughly convinced I was too good for public school.
I remember my first day of 9th grade at Valley Forge Intermediate School vividly - I remember what I wore, who I met etc but what I remember most is that I shook all day. You see, my previous schools had been very small. There were 10 people in my 8th grade class. 9th grade? About 250 kids and I was scared to death. Also, within about a week I realized that my public school snobbishness was truly ridiculous. I met smart people -- really smart people -- people who were a whole lot smarter and more academically advance than I was. After a few weeks, I settled into a routine and found my groove.
Conestoga was my next school landing place - our district had a middle or intermediate school that went to 9th grade and then high school was 10th through 12th grade. Conestoga was an even bigger place with even more impressive students, teachers and programs. I know that a lot of people hated high school. I know that a lot of my friends didn't like Conestoga but I loved it. I had the most amazing friends, I love most of my classes (math and science being the exception) - I loved all of the activities I participated in, I loved the people that I got to know and I loved the opportunities that were available to me. Without sounding over the top ridiculous, I felt truly blessed to be there.
Saturday night I joined a large group of my friends at our 20th high school reunion. It was an absolutely delight to go. It was great fun to connect with people I hadn't seen in years, catch up with folks and see where people wound up and be with a large group of folks with a common thread. There were some moments when it was truly surreal to be standing there. High school can feel like a very finite universe at times and the people there can seem like the vast majority of the people in the world. Coming back to that 20 years later was a trip -- my world is much bigger now but there are still people who for a time I spent every school day with - some of whom I am sure have no idea who I was and some of whom are my best friends today.
One thing I know for sure is that my time and experience at Conestoga was something that shaped me and the person I would become and for that, I am grateful.
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