High School Memoir Assignment

The snow had all but melted away and the smell of spring filled the air. Just a few months of school were left; it was my eighth grade year. Much preparation and months of work had been done to get ready for the last dance of the year. It was the last dance of our middle school career and the excitement was building.

I trudged onto the bus one cold November morning and sat down in the seat across from Alex, my best friend Crash's boyfriend. I looked at my phone and saw I had a text from her. "Block Alex on everything and don't talk to him." I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were a little bit puffy and he was leaning on the window solemnly. I asked crash what had happened and she responded, "He's been super abusive our entire relationship so we broke up, duh." Alex and I had become really good friends over the past few months; I knew there was no way he could do anything abusive. Crash had never said anything but good things until that second, so naturally I was very confused. That night I asked Alex what happened and he sent me screenshots of the texts. Basically the entire conversation was Crash yelling at him for not being good enough for her. Alex was very confused, and so was I, as to what had happened, he didn't think he had done anything wrong. After seeing that conversation I started to think about who I could trust. When Crash had texted me that morning she had made it seem like it was all his fault but Alex actually had solid proof. This was the beginning of an end to what I later realized to be a toxic friendship. The end of this friendship made me more self confident and not worry about what others think I should be doing.

High School culture has changed since the “old days.” Students from all grades are not only striving for academic success, but also participate in many extracurricular activities as outside forces continue to impact social life. With this comes the typical struggles of students figuring out who they are, and what kind of person they want to become as college becomes a daunting factor.

My sister Mary, was in a serious relationship in high school. After graduation she went to UW-Oshkosh, where her and her significant other decided they were better off being friends. She wanted to just be friends because she knew that it was college and she didn’t want anything bad to happen while they were in a relationship. They were still kind of talking to each other like they were in a relationship until one day he decided to cheat on her. She was so hurt because they have been dating for about six to seven years, it took her a while to get over it and eventually she did. As time went on they grew further and further apart. After graduating with her bachelors from UW-Oshkosh, she decided that she wanted to join the navy. While being in

Entering high school from your nearby middle school, there’s going to be a handful of people. There’s going to be the ones you are confident you’re going to talk, laugh, and continue to make memories with, the ones you doubt you’ll ever speak to, and ones you have yet to ever meet. Something I learned quickly, is that there’s so many people and your connections with them change constantly and they can change you.

Walking into school on my first day of high school, I felt out of place. My face covered in acne, my teeth covered in braces, and the callicks in my hair stuck up through the abnormally thick layer of hair gel that coated them. My middle school social anxiety still ruled over me as I could barely speak with any member of the opposite sex. Yet, I still had an odd confidence about me. I had always been one of the best students in my class, even without ever studying for a test. I viewed high school as a slight uptick from the curriculum I had easily passed in middle school. I was wrong. High school exists as a microcosm of society, in which I originally failed to acclimate myself to the challenges posed to me in a setting of increased

She was not the same person from the first session. She looked determined and strong. I asked her what she felt and what she was set to do now that she began to find her closure. She replied, “I forgive this man. If I don’t, I will never stop hating him and what he did. I won’t be able to move on. He did not answer my questions and I still don’t know why he did what he did or what caused him to choose us. I don’t even want to know anymore… for what? It will only make me go crazy. Before, I was simply surviving with the fact that this terrible thing happened to me. Now, I am learning to live with it. I am on a journey towards my recovery. I will heal the wounds that have been made on me, and I will be stronger than

Friendly and confident, these were personality traits that attracted me to her. But over the years, the superficiality of high school had somehow warped her brain, making her become more like an annoying character from a teen drama than an actual human being. I knew it was just a mask though, a way to cover up her real emotions. But honestly, I should have broken up with her months ago. The reason I didn't however, was because I didn’t like the idea of separation. I didn’t want to be anything like my biological dad.

The next day I attended the funeral and Rita managed to avoid me completely. Her friends gave me the cold shoulder. Two weeks went by. I was unable to make contact. How dumb can a guy get? It took that long to realize I’d been dumped. This time I guess it was her turn.

But until she shares her experience with someone, she wouldn’t be able to move forward. She might accuse herself for the failure of her relation and

She needs a pro bono lawyer and bail money. I volunteer to help - this is the only way to prove I am over her.

We both meet during my orientation at Bryant and ever since we laid eyes on one another I knew she was going to be mine. As I got to know her I realized that shared the same qualities and morals that I want for my life and the chemistry was undeniable since the first day we met. As the months went on I began to realize her true personality and jealous attitude about who I was talking to, trying to control who I was as a person because of her insecurities. Both of us knew that we moved to fast into what we thought would have been a fairy tale ending, eventually becoming an unfortunate situation for both of us, concluding a 3 month relationship that was never fully developed into a positive/loving/caring

Emma and Brandon started dating junior year of high school. Everything was perfect, we were all close and hung out all the time. Yes, I was always the third wheel a lot, but they never made it awkward or anything so I didn’t really mind. They dated for about 5 months, maybe more, and one day Brandon told Emma that he was falling in love with her. She didn’t say anything back; which Brandon wasn’t too upset about, but then suddenly, a couple days later she just breaks up with him. I felt so bad for the both of them, but I wasn’t going to pick sides on who was in the wrong, and who was in the right. That was their relationship, not mine, but somehow I got put in the middle of it.

One of my friends from high school, Shaela, is currently attending a community college located near our hometown. She picked this venue so that she could attend there for a year and then follow her boyfriend (a current high school senior) to wherever he decides to go. A few weeks into college, rumors started floating around that he was flirting with other girls. My best friend and I assumed that these rumors were largely fictitious and that nothing substantial had happened, so we ignored the issue. The rumors, however, started to grow and escalate. Instead of him talking to other girls, the situation grew into him sneaking around and having secret encounters with girls. As the weeks passed, Kristin and I considered telling Shaela what was happening, but we did not have any valid proof. We realized Shaela would have a hard time believing us over her boyfriend, especially if we did not have any evidence. At that point, telling her would cause more harm than good. However, after a couple months of rumors and signs of proof, Kristin and I changed our minds. As her friends, we decided honesty was the best policy. We planned and attempted to approach the situation in the best way we could. In my car on a Friday night, we laid out all the evidence and information we had. Shaela immediately called her boyfriend, who denied everything. Shaela believed him; she said that he would never do anything like that to her.

For her to go behind our back to move in a guy she barely knew hurt me in more ways than she could think was possible.