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The best thing about high school, for me, is that it's over. I always feel bad for the people who say that high school was the best time of their lives. Seriously? That means they peaked at 18. So the remainder of their 60 to 70 years is one long, downhill slide. Don't get me wrong. There were some good times. I didn't have a lot of friends but the friends I had were amazing people, mature beyond their years, smart, funny, and good. The kind of people I wanted to emulate. I'm sure one of my parents told me that to be a better person, surround yourself with the kind of people who inspire you to be better. It's something I do to this day. I want to be around people who are smarter than me, nicer than me, more driven than me… I sprint to keep up and, while never actually catching them, get further than I would by myself. But back to high school. I was new to the Phoenix area, new to the school, new to 10th grade, and all the kids had known each other since they were in kindergarten. I was a foreigner from a land called Nebraska. A weirdo. I knew what my comfort zone was and gravitated toward that. I loved performing so I joined the Drama Club. I enjoyed academics so I signed up for AP classes. I liked to argue, so I joined Debate. Making friends was difficult for me — I was a dramatic 15 year-old girl (redundant, I know) who was kind of a know-it- all and liked to argue. On top of that, I was shy so the people who were curious about me and took the time to get to know me were a bit startled when I emerged from my awkward shell. Eventually I found a small circle of dramatic, smart, head- strong girls and we enjoyed a blossoming friendship. One of my favorite memories was the Talent Show my junior year. My friends Andra and Kellie and I wanted to perform something but our talents were vague and hardly stage worthy. Andra and I could wow the judges with our trigonometry prowess and Kellie could cry for no good reason at the drop of a hat. We could all talk for hours until we got our way, or fell asleep, whichever came first. It was the day of the show and our names had been on the list of performers for weeks. Another thing we had in common is our love of the Last Minute. We met at Kellie's house and, with the power of pressure, came up with an act. We would act out "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly." It was an hour before the show and we felt pretty good that we had an idea. We had to get to school so we threw stuffed animals into a hefty bag and walked there, working out a basic outline as we went. Back stage I saw the boy I had a crush on — Don Clem. He had a rock band and they had written an original song and had rehearsed for six months, seven days a week, at least four hours a day. "What are you doing?" he asked. "We thought of something on the way here," I said. He shook his head. I don't know if he thought I was kidding or if he was reacting in stunned disappointment. There were about 30 acts that night. Lots of singers, a couple of bands, some dramatic performances. The judges were local stars — the weatherman from channel 3, the principal of the school, a DJ from a radio station some of the parents listened to. The prize was $100 and, in 1986, that was a lot of Big Macs. Finally it was our turn. We weren't nervous — we had no expectation of winning so there was no pressure. We just wanted to have fun. And we did. I started the song, "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly," and Andra interrupted, sitting in a rocking chair wearing a gray wig, "Who are you calling an old lady?" I had to bite my lip not to laugh. It was on from there. She argued with me about every animal she had to swallow: fly, bird, cat, dog… every time she'd pretend she was seeing the animal just off stage and she'd go out, calling it, then coming back on stage, another animal stuffed in her shirt. When we got to the part, "There was an old lady who swallowed a horse," Andra, of course, protested but finally went off stage to find a horse while I smiled at the audience. She came running back, yelling, "Finish the song! Finish the song! The farmer is after me!" On cue, Kellie came down the aisle from the back of the theater, yelling for her horse. She spotted Andra with a horse head (doll) sticking out of her shirt, jumped on the stage, and hit Andra on the head with a bottle. Kellie then pulled the horse from Andra's shirt and walked off stage. "There was an old lady who swallowed a horse," I sang, "she died, of course." Then I stepped over Andra's body and left the stage. The audience erupted and we won first place. Don was clearly angry, as were all the acts who had actual talent, but we took anyone who wanted to go to McDonald's. What's my point? High school was not the best time of my life — there were good moments then, just as there are good moments now — in fact, there is no ONE best time of my life… just a lot of good (and great, and some not so great) moments. I recognized high school for what it was… a time to find out who I was, what I liked, and that it's okay to fail as long as you try. But it's WAY better to succeed when you focus on just enjoying the ride. ~ Courtney 2 OUR YUCAIPA | AUGUST 2014 There was an old lady who went to high school and swallowed a fly

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