A little over a decade ago: Day 1,005

I suppose for lack of a better plan, we can consider this my special "Day 1,000" post.  These last couple days I've had something on my mind that I can't really shake.

When I was in high school, I was apparently really well-known.  In our mock elections my senior year, I won three different categories.  One which seemed appropriate, one which I no longer remember, and the final one which confused most everyone to the point where Fr. Joe, the disciplinary principal at the time, came down to ask my permission for it to be published...which is the one I want to talk about now.

I was voted "Most Likely to Drastically Improve."  My mother's take on this is that my classmates had confidence that I could accomplish such a feat unlike any other female in our class.  I don't know if I accept that or not.

In high school, I was an odd sort of person.  While most girls wore skirts, I was one of one or two who almost always wore pants.  I was the first female to ever be on the wrestling team.  I took all three languages offered (at that time) during my senior year.  I think I took about every art class the school had.  During an honors biology class game, I managed to pick the only female plant part listed when the clue said "male part of a plant."  I was a middle-class kid in a sea of upper-class kids which made me "the poor kid."  I didn't wear makeup; I didn't even know how to put it on.  And, yes, I managed to trip over a painted line.  To top it all off, I'm an introvert, and the world isn't particularly kind to introverts.  This is just a small smattering of what I was like.  I'm sure my former classmates all have their own memories.

So, I'm not entirely sure what they wanted me to improve in.  I'm still friendly and helpful.  I've only gotten poorer. I'm still learning weird languages.  I'm still stepping up to challenges which often surprise people (sometimes even myself).  I still trip over weird things...or not so weird things.  I've had a weird rash on my hand twice which I can only figure is caused by touching some plant.  And I still don't wear makeup.  (Although, I do own some.)

But I have improved.  You see...for me, all those things I was in high school weren't really bad things.  In fact, most of them were really good things, but they needed to be strengthened and cultivated.  In high school, I was growing into who I am now.  God used every weird and embarrassing thing which happened to me back then to mold me and strengthen me.  And He has allowed me to become unstoppable.  There are obstacles and there are roadblocks, but high school (and the decade since) taught me to work around them.

So, maybe my mother was right.  Or maybe high schoolers are just petty.