High School Musical

My ten year high school reunion was last week.
I did not attend as I had a sick child and my husband was absent.

It did however spark some deep thought in me about how sometimes it feels like a million years ago instead of a mere decade. I've reflected on my own personal metamorphosis from being a Spartan to who I am today.

If you are having strains of "We're All In This Together" running through your head-I apologize.

High School was not "the best time of my life" as some describe it. I was not pretty, popular, athletic or part of any other defining group. I weighed less than a hundred pounds but not because I had any type of an eating disorder or exercised-at all. I wasn't what you could call "shapely". More like the opposite. I did begin my lifelong friendship with Victoria's Secret during this time though. There were more uncomfortable days of trying to define myself than I would wish upon any teenager. I was clumsy (I failed skipping in kindergarten-it was a sign). I was a choir geek, loved books and learning, was in no sense a fashionista, had no desire for rebellion and rode the school bus as a senior.

I was also as stubborn then as I am now. Probably even more so.

Some good things did come from those awkward years. I continued to feed my passion for music, had my first relationship, a couple of close friends and stayed blissfully naive. I was in a couple of musicals, but let's just say our budget was nothing compared to East Highs. You could find me in the music room three hours out of six my last semester as a senior. Yet, I couldn't wait to go to college and so I started at Ricks three days after graduation.

Here's me on that monumental day. If it looks like I'm on drugs-I was. Long story.

That first year at college was great too. I had a lot of fun amidst trying circumstances. I learned a lot about myself and got to the point where I didn't turn beet red when certain subjects were brought up. I continued to feed my hunger for knowledge and realized that teaching music wasn't where I was going to end up.

Life moved on and I did too. While others were getting hitched I ran off to Egypt and Israel, envying them all the while.

Since then a lot has happened. I have been edumacated, had 40+ roommates, traveled, had a career, become a wife and mother, etc. I have learned a lot about life and other people. There is a great big world outside of rural Idaho, but I'm glad that's where I stayed in those developing years.

It would have been interesting to see everyone and how they have changed. Most are probably still the same. My path kind of veered away from the typical Minidoka County gal, but in hindsight...I'm glad.

I still think that I wouldn't go back for a million dollars