College was the place where I came into myself. Where I made friends who truly understood me, where I discovered the things I love. College was where I stopped doing things that weren’t true to who I am and started being myself all day, every day. But high school was where I struggled for years in order to come out victorious in college.
Some people cruise through high school either academically or socially – they were the big fish in a little pond. Some people struggle through high school, with friends or classes or authority. High school can be amazing or it can be brutal, but either way it is formative.
I was a mix of someone who was cruising and struggling through those four years. I was a Jewish girl with a loud mouth in a small New Hampshire Catholic high school. I had a solid group of friends and got good grades. However, I wasn’t quite comfortable with myself so I was always acting like life was perfect when I really just wanted to ask for help. But my story is not different than other kids during that time of life, when everything is scary but we are expected to have it all together. The variable that makes my story different than so many others is that I had teachers and role models who pushed me in the right direction.
One of those influential teachers was my homeroom teacher, Mr. Campbell. Every morning of every day of high school, I came into Mr. Campbell’s classroom to a big “Morning, Em!” If I was stressed, he would talk through what was bothering me. If I had something exciting going on, I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say about it. And he did this for every student in homeroom with me, and every student he taught English to.
The best part about Mr. Campbell was he was a no-nonsense guy. He was there for his students, but he would not take any of our crap. If we were out of line, lazy, selfish, or any other quality high school students invariably are, he was the first to call us out on it. He kept me in line every time I rolled into school complaining about whatever I could think of, and all the times I needed someone to put me in my place he was a ready volunteer. He did this for his students because he cared about us and he didn’t want our teenage angst to hold us back from what we were capable of.
High school isn’t a time I like to think about too often, so I have only been back to the school once and I haven’t kept in great contact with more than a handful of friends. But sometimes things like Mr. Campbell’s loss will wake you up and call you home. High school and our younger, angst-filled years aren’t always as great or fun as the lives we lead now in college, but they are always important to who we are. It is essential to remember the place we come from and the people who shaped us as we grow into adults ourselves. Don’t wait to lose an amazing teacher to go back and appreciate those who have helped you become the person you are today.
