high school and college life

Yesterday, I discussed my life story and mentioned that I had more to discuss about being a part of the Essex High School and Lyndon State College communities.  Well, here is that moment.  As discussed, there were many differences between my High School and College life.  At Essex, I was a part of sports teams (during my Junior and Senior years) while at Lyndon, I was a part of the Television station News 7 there.  But when I left both schools, I felt like a different person than I was before I got there.

I'll begin with being at Essex.  As I said in the previous post, I was all about staying with my "clique" from Grand Isle for my first two years.  Then I started to change and get more involved.  I was a part of the extracurricular group Buzz Vibe before I became a part of the Boy's Basketball team my Junior year (thanks to the two people who I mentioned earlier, Jason Weischedel and Jeff Goodrich).  That turned me into a more sociable person at Essex.

I became a part of other sports teams during my senior year and was more involved with each team I was with.  I joined the Boy's Soccer team in the fall of 2006 as their statistician (and unfortunate for me tried my hands at PA announcing).  Then, I continued my role as the Boy's Basketball Videographer and Manager in the winter, which was even more energizing the second time around.  But the most important team I was with that year was the Boys Lacrosse team, not just because we won the D1 State Championship that year, but because it was a group of players and coaches who really enjoyed having me as a part of the team (with the exception of the NY trip.  For those on the team, you'll remember what I mean).  It was a great time with these teams, but i didn't continue with the managing role at Lyndon.

That was because I wanted to worry more about my classes and getting to be more social there (am I glad I did).  What a long, sometimes strange trip it was at Lyndon.  I had a lot of fun in every class I took there and enjoyed every professor I met there and had a class with.  Whether that professor taught History, Political Science, Television Studies or any other class I took there, they always made me do the three things the late Jim Valvano wanted us to do everyday; they made me laugh, they made me think and they made me get emotional, outside or inside, no matter what they said or do.  It was a lot of fun to meet these professors at Lyndon and am glad I can call all of them my friend.

But I guess it was even better meeting the students that I did at Lyndon more than I did with the professor (however, it's like a 55%-45% difference).  The group of people who I knew from taking any class I had really made me feel fortunate to know them.  Whether I knew you for only a day, a semester, a year or longer, you are all really important to my life and I'll never forget that.

But the most important people I knew were the ones I were able to work with at News 7.  None of you people realized that you were working with someone with a learning disability and you might have thought I was weird.  But I didn't care about that because I know I can trust you in the end.  You were the group that made me feel very grateful about myself, even if I did mess up on certain occasions.  You are also the reason why I hid my disorder because I wanted to be more of a group than just being one person and I didn't want my disability to get in the way of what I should do while I was down there.  You are the ones I will always remember and I thank you for believing in me and being your friend and "teammate" over the two and a half years I was there.

So there you have it.  My career at Essex High School and Lyndon State College in a longer post than previous.  There were too many things to write about in that post and I'm glad that I've written this.  In conclusion I say thank you to all at Essex and Lyndon who I've met and learned from all these years.  You will never be forgotten in my life and I'll always remember the times we had together.  Whether you were a classmate or a professor/teacher, as Phil Collins once sang, you'll be in my heart always.