20 Years Ago

Hillsborough High School                   Photo by Richard Prado

 
This year marks 20 years since I graduated from high school. It's really hard to fathom. It doesn't feel like it has been 20 years most of the time. I just really don't feel like that much time has passed. But, it has, and I have to just face it.


When I was in high school, I wasn't one of the "popular" kids, although I seemed to know a lot of people. My friends were comprised of people from all sorts of "cliques" - from the "burnouts", ROTC kids, Band kids, dancerettes, choir and show choir kids, and maybe even what some considered "nerds." I don't think I was ever "cool," but I was okay with that, for the most part. I had some good times in high school, and had some good friends. 

I don't think I ever really fit in to any specific mold. I was in choir, ran sound for our show choir (Sound System), was in drama club, and spent a year on Yearbook. I was not athletic by any stretch of the imagination, so I never did sports. I never had any reason to hang out with any cheerleaders or jocks, unless they were in one of my classes. I never once spent any time with them outside of school. Maybe some people considered me a nerd, but I never felt like one. 


20 years later, and I have found a lot of people I knew (and some I didn't really KNOW) from high school, and I see where a lot of them have gone in their lives. I see a lot of success. Some are single, some are married, some are divorced, some have kids, and some don't. I kinda took a different road than many of them, and for a while it bothered me to see how I had not gone as far in life as many of them. Today, I feel different. I have traveled the path that I needed to, to get to where I am today.


I didn't go to college after high school. I ran away to another state with someone I thought I loved. It didn't work out, and I was back home in a few months. I later got married, and then got divorced. I still never went back to school. I did try school for a short time while I was married, but it didn't work out for various reasons. I kinda went from one dead-end job to another for many, many years. I moved from state to state, and didn't accomplish much. I just kind of floated around. In 2004, I gave birth to the best kid ever, alone. From then on, it was just us, and I knew I had to step up. I still was unsuccessful. I did make sure he had everything he needed. In 2006, we landed in a place where I had a great opportunity. I had a room to stay in, free child care, counseling to work on me, and then a chance to go to a technical school. I went to school for almost a year, and graduated with a 3.75 GPA in Accounting Specialist. That still didn't get me anywhere, as no one would hire me, for lack of experience. After a while, I found a job that didn't last (in a different field), and after losing that job, I moved to Kentucky. I now go to school and I am moving forward with my life. 


I consider myself successful. It may not be what other people consider successful, but to me it is. Yes, I still have things I need to work on, and one day I will work on those things. But, for now I am very happy with my life. I have a beautiful little boy, a few good friends, a roof over our head, and a fantastic church family. I may not have come a long way since high school, but I have come a long way in my life. I am happy with me, and that's what matters. 20 years ago, if anyone had told me this is where I'd be in 20 years, I would have cried. Now, I smile. My ideas of success have changed so much.