Anyone 'social' in high school

I attended high school in the San Francisco Bay Area--aerospace industry hub at the time, future home of Silicon Valley--and I think--can't find exact figures--the pop. of the HS at the time I went there was about 2,500; so half of what yours was, Tony; we also went to school in shifts; there were so many of us, the cafeteria was too small; so we went to lunch in 30-minute shifts, starting at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30, I think.
I never cared much for the LA area and left as soon as I could. One thing that I always felt was that there were so many people and endless suburbia, that I felt as if I were drowning in it and that nothing I did would matter because there were already far too many doing the same thing. That "lost in the shuffle" feeling seemed amplified by the high school environment. I have never regretted that decision and I still get that same feeling when I have to go back for some family thing.

Tony
 

Yes, I was in a bunch of clubs, on the newspaper staff and the yearbook editor my senior year. Active in the drama club, but only backstage (I couldn't act my way out of a paper bag but I could paint backdrops and hiss cues like nobody's business). I was on the student council but only as a "drone", no offices held.

No sports. There were no girls' sports at my large school, not that I would have been any good at any of them...….I was born with three left feet and the inability to either hit a ball or throw one within 10 feet of the target.
 
I never cared much for the LA area and left as soon as I could. One thing that I always felt was that there were so many people and endless suburbia, that I felt as if I were drowning in it and that nothing I did would matter because there were already far too many doing the same thing. That "lost in the shuffle" feeling seemed amplified by the high school environment. I have never regretted that decision and I still get that same feeling when I have to go back for some family thing.

Tony
Yeah, I felt the same way about the area I grew up in; every direction you looked in was cookie-cutter houses and everybody looking and acting the same. (The hippie movement was getting going about 40 min. away but it might as well have been 1,000 miles away and 20 years earlier where I was.)
 

I attended high school in the San Francisco Bay Area--aerospace industry hub at the time, future home of Silicon Valley--and I think--can't find exact figures--the pop. of the HS at the time I went there was about 2,500; so half of what yours was, Tony; we also went to school in shifts; there were so many of us, the cafeteria was too small; so we went to lunch in 30-minute shifts, starting at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30, I think.

I also went in the SF Bay Area on the peninsula. We had about 2000-2500 students around 500 per class year. We didn't have a cafeteria however.
 
Yeah, I felt the same way about the area I grew up in; every direction you looked in was cookie-cutter houses and everybody looking and acting the same. (The hippie movement was getting going about 40 min. away but it might as well have been 1,000 miles away and 20 years earlier where I was.)
Even the hippie movement was still everybody looking and acting the same, when you stepped back and looked at it. The exception might be those who actually left the city and went to live on those outlying hippie farms. I wonder if any of those have survived to this day.

Tony
 
I also went in the SF Bay Area on the peninsula. We had about 2000-2500 students around 500 per class year. We didn't have a cafeteria however.
When we first moved from NYC to California, we lived in the Bay area. I was just a little kid then, but I didn't want to leave when we moved down to the LA area. When I did have the opportunities to move to the Bay area during the course of my career, it was far too expensive to even consider. I am sure we would have loved it though. I always enjoyed my trips to Silicon Valley when I had to go to Intel and a few other places from time to time. I would always make a point to drive up to San Francisco to visit my favorite guitar shop as well as the one in Palo Alto, the North Beach Italian restaurants, etc. I always like Golden Gate Park, but have since read that it has really gone downhill. I hope that isn't true!

Tony
 
Hated high school! Overweight and bullied. Non-athletic. Music was about the only thing that I enjoyed. Marching band. Glee clubs. Solos are district festivals. And... made good grades. Once I walked across the stage and was handed my high school diploma, never stepped foot back in the building. Never attended any class reunions... up until a few years ago we who were still alive had a small 50th celebration.
Understand the small town cliques, of which my family wasn't in one. My high school graduating class was one of the largest for that school. There were 20 of us! All four grades of high school never reached close to 100 kids.
Probably ended up the most physically able and athletic of any in my class. Have a few of them on FB and shudder at what could have been such a dead end to have remained in that small town. Zero regrets for leaving.
 
While I loved junior high / grade 7 & 8, I hated high school. I’m not sure why I never took phys. ed since I was a very active person. Being an introvert in high school forces one to become social even though they aren’t however I was in the marching band, senior band and jazz band. Played saxophone ( still do ) and xylophone ( keyboards now ). After school ended I wished I’d taken theatre arts since I love to sing . I also wish I took shop but there are only so many curricular courses one could take and I had that filled to the max with music, art and home economics.
 
I never considered myself popular but did have several close friends and a few boyfriends. However, looking back, I actually did a lot. Was in Marching band one year and then orchestra (including Honor band), ROTC (first year they allowed girls), Drama one year, and on the Tennis and bowling teams and took dance lessons. I was also a candystriper (volunteer at a hospital), and in the Future Nurses, active in my Church and in the Future Business leaders (I think that was the name). Also took all the hard classes so I could get into a good college. My best friend's boyfriend was the Quarterback on the football team and also played Basketball, so we went to almost all the games. I went to some dances but not many. Boy, that sounds like a lot but it didn't feel that way at the time. I did not do all of this the entire time, which is probably why it didn't feel like I was that busy.
 
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Attended a small school of around 600 to 800 - played football (varsity letterman), was in Key Club, and editor of the school newspaper. Aside from that, holding down several jobs kept me out of the social mainstream, if there even was such a thing. It was a different time and place. Kids didn't do drugs or alcohol. parents were engaged in parenting and most kids had work or chores to do after school and related activities. School dances were great but I can't remember anyone having a party, even after graduation. Church activities were valued (e.g. skating, hay rack rides, etc.) Being good at something was generally more important than being popular. Only a very few people were "disliked".
 
Yearbook editor but I worked after school so I couldn't join the drama club and other clubs I wanted.
I was in "with the IN crowd" and had two of the handsomest boyfriends in town, so, IMO I had more fun than ANYONE in high school!
Those really were the best days of my whole life!
 
My High School years were spent in Hawaii; did enough school work to pass, but mostly
surfed and played bass in a rock band ( not very good ).

Small circle of friends and didn't make much of a mark.

Still some of my best memories.

* On a side note, I found a video from my school the year I graduated:
( were we ever this young! )

 
I was there for one thing.....football

Class was interesting..... at times
Mostly class was for sleep
I worked nights
Some young ladies filled in the grade books for me
(it was good to be in with the teacher's aids babes)
 
I was lost in high school so spent most of my time skipping school, going shopping with my friends, and hanging out with the boys. Still, I was voted first runner up as most popular girl, so I was told, since I didn't even attend the awards ceremony. I think I was more "infamous" than popular. High school is a blur and remains the happiest time of my life.

anne laughing.jpg
 

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