Question: What kind of a student were you?

Question: What kind of a student were you?

Answer:

That depends on what you are referring to. If you are referring to grades, I was a great student, graduating with honors and a 3.9 GPA, ranked in the top 10% of my class, in the National Honors Society for all four years...

But if you are asking as in my day to day school life... that may be a little bit different of an answer. You see, on my official transcripts, it says that my senior year I only missed eight days of school all year. Yeah... right... I think that if I was to tally up the days that I actually went to every class for the full amount of time, it might equal eight. How did I manage to pull that off? With the help of my best friend.

We were skipping our third block class one day and decided to visit the Principal. Yes, while skipping class we willingly went to the Principal's office. Why? Because he had buckets of candy in his office. So we were sitting there, chilling, talking about sports and events going on in town, munching on gumdrops and sour worms, then we said our goodbyes and left. On our way out we had to walk through the attendance office. I know... not only are we skipping and being seen by the Principal, but the attendance officer as well. But on our way out my friend turns around and tells the attendance officer that one of our teachers ran out of hall passes and needed some more. The woman smiled and said 'Okay. Here are two pads of them. Can you take them to him?'

Sure! So we are now in possession of two stacks of hall passes, ready to be used at our will. But half the time we didn't even need them. I had made an agreement with my pre-calc teacher that I would stay in class long enough to do the three daily problems he put on the board and then I could leave, only needing to come back for tests and quizzes (leaving right after them as well).

I took an art class my senior year and when I completed my first project on the third day of the semester, I asked the teacher if I could leave, she said sure. When I came back the next day, she asked me why I was there. I looked at her funny and asked if that meant I could leave again. She again asked me why I was there. So I asked her what about tomorrow. She said as far as the attendance book indicated, I was always in class and on time. Sweet!

Then there was my favorite teacher, the one I told you about a few posts back that kicked me out of class for getting an A on a test. Yeah. That would go down like this:

Me: (poking my head in the door and waving my hand) Hi Mac!

Teacher: What do you want?

Me: Just making sure you saw that I was here today.

Teacher: I see you.

Me: Okay. I'm going to go now.

Teacher: Whatever. (returns his attention to his newspaper)

Then there were the really weird days where our audio/visual tech needed something from a store across town and unlocked the gates so my friend and I could drive to go get it, giving us his credit card to do so. Did I mention this 'town' was Daytona Beach. I guess I should use the term city next time. We also had a different teacher give us his debit card and pin number so we could pull money out of his bank account buy him and ourselves lunch... allowing us to skip class in order to do it as well.

So, to answer your question, on paper, I was an excellent student. In reality... eh, not so much.

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Just thought I'd sneak this one in here since I had some extra time. Also, I will be getting back to writing 'There's Always Tomorrow', but I found myself having to reread BWYDT to find out what exactly I had already written about Adrianne's family. So I've been stuck on that story until I finished it up. I only have a few chapters to go so I should be posting again on that any day. I'm so sorry that I have left you all hanging as long as I have. But BWYDT is just so frickin long!

Questions

Firstly, thank you all for your kind comments. I truly was not expecting them. Between all the comments and the emails I received, I was blown away. But this is that little family I was talking about when I mentioned the importance of sharing coming out stories. Though we may seem alone, we aren't. So if there are anymore questions regarding that topic or if you just want to share your own thoughts, I will gladly listen and try to answer. Now that I've gotten it out there, I'm not as scared to get into the details if need be. But again, thank you for your support.

On to several questions:

The Question: What state do I live in that would have a school near a beach?

The Answer:

I have lived most of my life in various parts of Florida. But I went to high school in Daytona Beach. Loved the area. Miss the area. Miss the events, the beach, even the birds... (here is a picture of the school to give you an idea)

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The Question: How did I get into the medical field?

The Answer:

It found me. No, um... my father is a laboratory technologist and when I graduated from high school, I needed a job. We had just moved to this lovely... small... country town and there wasn't much more than doctor's offices, car dealerships, and Walmart. So, I got a job working as a phlebotomist, drawing people's blood. I should probably address a common misconception. I am not a lab tech. My dad is and I just work in the lab, forming a close relationship with the lab techs that I work with. I'm currently the phlebotomy supervisor while I figure out if/when/why I will go back to school.

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The Question: What color eyes does your sister have?

The Answer:

LOL. Yeah, I knew it was a little hard to see in that picture. Her eyes are usually brown, but they are known for turning a bit green with those golden bursts. So they are usually brown but better classified as brown/green hazel. Which in itself is interesting seeing as I have blue eyes, while my father's are plain brown and my mother's are a blue/brown hazel.

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Keep the questions coming. I still have some that were emailed to me that I will answer, but next... I think I might do some pictures from a recent vacation since you all want pictures as well. I might throw a poem in there as well. Sotries too... that's a lot of stuff... Keep coming back and I will get to it all.

Question: How Can You Write So Much?

New section. Judging by the poll results so far, you all like my stories. So I will be posting more of those. However, I am looking to you for help on the topics. I get asked a lot of questions all the time (which I don't mind) so I'm going to start answering them. Some will be hella long stories like this one and others short responses. So ask away and I'll see what I can do for you. Send me an email or leave a question in the comment area (you can do so without signing your name if you really want to) and I will start answering.

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The Question: How Can You Write So Much?

The Answer:

There is one person (and one class) to thank for my ability to write 3-6,000 words every day in the matter of hours for you all to read and enjoy. She was my AP English Literature and Composition teacher I had my Senior year of high school. But before I jump into how this teacher prepared me for such situations as composing two drastically different fanfics just off the top of my head as well as maintaining a blog of jokes, poetry, and stories, let me explain some of the background story involved.

In my high school (or most with these available classes) there was a progression started your Freshman year. Should you prove 'gifted enough', you were placed in an English I Honors course. Your Sophomore year, it became and English II Honors course. Then Junior year, it became Pre-AP American Literature course. (AP meaning advanced placement or college/uni course you could take while still in high school) Then something magical happened Senior year. You were given a choice. Take English Lit/Comp III Honors or AP English Lit/Comp. Why was there suddenly a choice? Because it was the school's way of attempting not to either fail half of the senior class or prevent them from dropping out of school completely.

I confess now that I had no desire to take the AP class, but I succumbed to peer pressure and found myself enrolling in it despite the numerous horror stories that had been fed to me since my very first day of school three years prior. To further explain, when one teacher starts lecturing a student for not paying attention in their class and doing work for another, the lecture immediately stops once the name 'Bonnick' is mentioned. The lecturing teacher cowers and returns his or her attention to the rest of the class, leaving the one to continue their AP studies without further interference. Another example is a Facebook page entitled “Come Hell or High Water... or FCAT.. or Death, I MUST go to Bonnick's Class”. Yes, you can look it up. It does exist.

Why was this class and teacher so dreaded? Look at the latest response on the Facebook page's wall. “Three chapter responses, a revised essay, and a poetry response... all due Monday!” You see, I'm not talking about a paper or two due every week. No, no, no. There is much, much more. So let me run down the list of what all is entailed in this Monday through Friday, 90 minute class.

Firstly, every single day starts out with either a poem or exert from a short story which we are given 45 minutes to read, analyze, and write a five paragraph essay in response to. So right off the bat, that is five essays a week. Then comes the take home essays. Two of those a week. We are also assigned to read a total of 12 classic novels and write bi-weekly essays on those as well. That brings the total up to nine essays. However, these are not just any essays. These... are perfection.

Should you use past tense when writing an essay, that would result in ten points off your grade. Contractions (I'm, You're, They're), ten points off. Use a 'be' verb (is, are, was, or were) that is another ten points off your grade. Each! Use a linking verb (verbs that do not show action: The cat looked happy), you guessed it, another ten points off your grade. Now, use a comma splice or improper usage of a semi-colon... twenty points off. Use the words 'you', 'I', 'us', or 'we', the same twenty points off your grade. After tallying all of those up, then she would grade your paper from there on content. I can honestly say that it took me thirty minutes just to write just an introductory paragraph for one essay.

But those are just the essays (most of them anyway). You see, in the class itself (after the in class essay), we don't actually do much because our time is spent listening and giving presentations. Everyday. Poetry presentations, completely with visual aides and copies to pass out to the class, were done at least once a week if not twice. On top of those, we head back to those novels we were required to read. After taking two tests on each, the class was lead by fellow students to then teach the book to each other through a presentation referred to as a seminar.

In these seminars, we were assigned topics: characters, author biography, background history, literary techniques, setting, theme, plot, etc. All of which we were to teach to the class using visual aides, class participation, costumes (yes, we had to dress up... which leads me to another story about dropping my pants in front of my class...), music, and food and drinks. This happened over a two day period and was followed by a third test and you guessed it, another in-class essay.

If you think this class is about wrapped up, you are terrible mistaken and this blog entry may in fact rival that first chapter of the story “There's Always Tomorrow”. Because we have yet to cover mid-terms, mid-term projects, and AP reviews. So lets start with the mid-term. The final for this class is an AP test to see if we qualify for actual college/uni credits. It's a four hour test taken at the end of the semester and we get the whole day off from school for it. The mid-term, however, is a previous year's version of this AP test. The problem with that... is it is four hours long! How can you take a four hour test when we only have class for 90 minutes a day? You can't. Not during the week that is. Yep. We were REQUIRED to show up at school for more than four hours on a Saturday to take our mid-term. Suckiest way to spend your weekend ever, I'll tell you that much. That test, by the way, was not just multiple choice but also short response and accompanied by an additional two essays.

The second thing left to cover is the mid-term project which is actually a list of 50-100 literary techniques (juxtaposition, paradox, pathetic fallacy, quibble) that we were to define, lists uses for, and give examples of using only the material, books, poems, short stories, and other crap that we had gone over with that semester. I think mine ended up being over ten pages long and I didn't even do it all. I gave up. I admit it. I turned into a slacker.

And lastly, were those damn AP review sessions. They were held after school released and started at either three o'clock and went to five, or started at five o'clock and went to seven. Don't think it's required to attend an after school study session? Neither did I. Until that is, I didn't go to one and the teacher actually called my cell phone at home to find out why I didn't show up. Yeah, that was weird. But yes. That class and that teacher is my answer for your question of how in the world can I seem to write so much, so often (this post is over 1,300 words itself).

As my final note. Should this teacher ever read anything that I have written... not only would she pray for my sinful ways, but she would then kill me so there was no proof that I was ever one of her pupils that actually passed her class. She would have given me straight F's on everything you have had the 'pleasure' of reading from me. Especially seeing as that last sentence was written in the past tense... And I used 'was' in the sentence after that... And 'I' in the one after that.

Not for the Religiously Inclined

Getting back into the swing of things and once again hitting on the topic of school. Also, put up a poll in the side bar to see what you all are interested in. Just testing the waters.

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In high school, our American Lit teacher required us to make a presentation on a Bible story. Now, I'm leaving all references of the 'separation of church and state' out of this story, or the fact that we were only allowed to use the New Testament regardless of our own religious preference. This story is more about a friend I took this class with. She came from a very alternative family compared to most and when given the assignment, she struggled, mostly because she had never read the Bible and had no clue as to what most of the stories were about.

Yet as typical high school students, we procrastinated and waited until the day before our presentations were due to actually work on them, taking every free minute we had to piece together the three to five minute explination and speech. We sat outside at lunch, eating and working; my friend with The Bible in hand. (A piece of information you will need is that our high school was near a beach and was therefore plagued with seagulls flying around in search of left over fries from the cafeteria or that little piece of a sandwich that someone dropped and never bothered to pick up. Dozens if not hundreds of them everywhere.)

So, there we were, sitting on the ground surrounded by notebooks and the 'holiest book in the world', with seagulls flying above, when this happens.

Friend 1: (Slams her fist down on the Bible and looks up at the seagulls, pointing her index finger at them) I swear to God, if you fucking birds shit on this Bible, I will kill you.

Me: (turns to look at friend 2 with an equally shocked expression) How many commandments do you think she broke with that single sentence?

Friend 2: She took Gods name in vain, she cursed, and she threatened a life.

Me: (looking back at friend 1) You're going to Hell.

Friend 1: (rolling her eyes) Whatever. Not like either of you two are Saints.

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My Least Favorite Teacher

I'm going to put it as plainly as I can. This dude was crazy. He's so crazy that I can't even attempt to remember an actual conversation I have held with him, so I'm just going to share some memories.

He was a monotonous math teacher that I had the privilege of being taught by for three of my four years of high school. He enjoyed being boring. He enjoyed it so much in fact, that he had discovered ways to hold our attention while no breaking from his boring nature. How? Several ways. The first, was on random days, for no reason, he would start and end class in a headstand... I have nothing to say to follow up on that statement besides it is needless to say that the first time you walk into a class room and your teacher in standing on his head in the front of the room... you're a little concerned for his sanity.

The second strange thing he does, or did, I don't know if he is still teaching or not. Is if he feels the class is drifting too far into their own thoughts, he would suddenly jump up, knocking his chair to the floor with a bang, and just stand there as we all gawked at his random action. He would stand there in silence for several seconds before picking up his chair, taking his seat, and begin to teach again as if nothing had ever happened. Granted, it got our attention. However, we still weren't paying attention to what he was teaching.

And lastly (and most shocking in my opinion) was his need... no, his obsession with white chalk. While most teachers opted for upgraded whiteboards and markers in their classrooms, he insisted on keeping his chalk board and pure white chalk. To this day, no one knows why he is obsessed with white chalk, but his actions only cement his mental love affair with the writing utensil. You see... one day, by pure mistake, he was given a box of yellow chalk to use. He, this quiet, monotone man, gasped so dramatically that we thought something was seriously wrong with him and jumped out of our seats to see if he was okay. Upon realizing he was only reacting to his discovery of the yellow chalk, we were left beyond confused. Then our confusion turned to absolute shock when he started to shake in rage as he ripped open the box and ate the yellow chalk in protest... Yes. He ate the chalk because it was not white.

Like I said, this dude was crazy. There is nothing you could tell me to make me believe otherwise.

Never Trust Your Peers

Never trust your peers. I learned this fact a long, long time ago. Especially if you are still in high school:

I'm in my algebra 2 math class, completely not paying attention. Never do, so it's not that big of a change. Then I hear my name called.

Teacher: Brandi.

Me: (looks up innocently) Yes?

Teacher: Perhaps you can provide us with the answer to the question.

Me: (looks down and realizes my book is still closed) Uh...

Teacher: Take your time.

Classmate: (whispers) Fifty-one.

Me: …

Classmate: (whispers) Fifty-one.

Me: Fifty-one?

*The class erupts in laughter*

Teacher: Well, I can see where some people might get a little confused about Puerto Rico, but no. There are only fifty states in the US. Thank you for playing the game.

Who the hell asks a question about how many states there are in a math class?
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Now I will try one more time to get some sleep before I have to go to work

My Favorite Teacher

I have a favorite teacher from high school because his class was the most memorable. He was an seventy-something year old AP US Government teacher who signed his name differently on each magazine and newspaper he subscribed to so he could track who sold his information to the companies that sent him junk mail. We rarely did anything productive in class and we spent our hour and a half of class just talking about whatever he wanted to talk about from the news, but hardly anyone paid attention. And he knew it.

He had told us in the beginning of the year that would never give us homework and we would only have six tests for the whole semester. He also did grades on a grading curve. He would take the person who scored the highest (regardless of how low the score actually was) and give them and everyone else 10 points within their score an 'A' grade. Everyone 10 points below that got a 'B' grade, and the rest of the class was given 'C' grades. No one failed. Ever. He refused to give anyone a grade lower than a 'C' because he said there was no point. We were "spoiled little brats whose mommies and daddies would be down in the Principal's office complaining about it" until he changed the grade.

He also had a theory that allowed him to accurately predict which student would set the grading scale by receiving the highest grade. He said: "Every year I can pick out who are the smart kids and who are the idiots who take this class because it looks good on a college application and it's want their Mommy and Daddy want them to do. Because the smart kids are the ones who sit up front and talk. All you other little brats keep your heads down and your mouths shut because you have nothing worth saying and probably can't wrap your narrow little minds around anything that is being discussed." Great Man. Really is.

But because of that fact he never failed anyone, he also didn't believe in privacy when distributing test results and often gave them aloud for the entire class to hear. Well, if you can't make lower than a 'C', what's the big deal? But like I said, he was my favorite teacher. However, he probably doesn't even remember my name because the majority or our conversations went something like this in tone:

Teacher: John?
John: Yes?
Teacher: You got a B. Mary?
Mary: Yes?
Teacher: You got a C. Brandi?
Me: Yes?
Teacher: I don't like you.
Me: (the entire class turns around in their seats to look at me in the back row, just as confused as I was) ... I'm... sorry... for that.
Teacher: Do you know why I don't like you, besides you're a smart ass?
Me: ...no, Sir.
Teacher: You're too damn quiet. You never pay attention to what's going on. And you never say a goddamn word in response to anything these dumb asses think is important... You're also smart as hell. You got a A. Now get the hell out of my class. You're pissing me off.

God I loved that man. He was also the only teacher I ever had that flipped me off as well...

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I'm still on vacation but I felt the urge to share this story. I had a very interesting high school experience that most people I've shared it with have found very entertaining, so I thought I might share a few stories about my most memorable experiences. I have a lot I have to shift through.

But anyway. If things go according to plan, I hope to have a special update to post on here later tonight (not about school). It's very personal to me but I think it needs to be posted. Hopefully it all works out and I can.