Peek Back at High School

NT and I went back to our high school with some trepidation.  I think it's been five years since I've seen my teachers.  I wasn't expecting any of them to recognize me, but I was pleasantly surprised when my physics teacher looked shocked, remembered my name, and gave me a big hug!  She was definitely one of my favorite teachers, too bad I couldn't say I became an astronaut and joined NASA.  Most of the other teachers all looked confused when they saw us and thought we were looking for someone else.  One asked if we were asking about an SAT prep class - oops!

I guess it was go-back-to-high-school-and-see-your-teacher-day because we kept on running into other students doing the same thing.  Although they were usually one year removed from high school and looked at us with some disbelief when we said we were 05's.  Haha - never felt so old.

We also managed to catch my 11th grade English teacher who was known as an eccentric and someone I found pretty intimidating back in the day.  Although he didn't recognize us - from the hundreds of faces he's seen in his 50+ years of teaching - he still talked to us with such warmth and happiness, and asked if I sat in "that chair" - which I couldn't remember at all.  In fact, we both got embraces from him as well (I feel so honored!).  He also recalled memories that I've completely forgotten, like how in the Glass Menagerie, Laura would sometimes run around in Forest Park, so he showed us pictures of St. Louis and the Arch.  Although I don't remember any of that, hopefully he will recall who we were as he sits eating his dinner and stares off into the distance - at least that's what he says usually happens.

But what amazed me the most was how timeless all the teachers seemed.  It's as if as soon as I stepped out of high school, they stopped changing.  Maybe they just looked young to begin with, and they were actually a lot older than they really looked when I was there.  For example, the eccentric English teacher said he might retire because he's been teaching at that school for 40 years and some of his students were approaching 50 - yet HE looked like he was 50.  And the physics teacher commented that her students looked 40 - but she definitely looked like she was 30.  Maybe being around young people really do keep you young.

We also ran into my 10th grade English teacher as he was walking to his car - which was kind of amazing.  It was not surprising he taught drama for a time.  He also told us some interesting trivia about St. Louis like how T.S. Elliot was born there, and his great-grandfather was one of the founders of WashU - or something like that.  It was also nice to see another physics teacher who both NT and I agreed was kind of pleasantly geeky.  We both told told him to send "hello's" to his wife who also taught us.  It was a pity I couldn't make it to my tennis coach, but hopefully she'll get my message via another prof.  When we were trying to search for her in the gym, there was a basketball game going on, and the ticket people told us we needed to pay if we wanted to stay for the game - we gently declined the offer.  We also heard the very-likely-hyperthyroid English teacher was running around as usual, but unfortunately, he didn't run into us.

Overall, it became a very amusing trip with many warm smiles and fond memories - I guess I'm good at forgetting the bad ones.  NT and I agreed that the teachers probably got a kick out of having some of their old students visit them - and I hope it really did make their holiday season just a little bit brighter.