That's a great story. It really shouldn't be that hard to stand up for others, but it can be. Personally, I think that speaks volumes about you, and the person you've grown to be.
I don't think I really fit in with any groups myself, but I shuttled back and forth between a few. I wasn't super smart, but I was smart enough to hang out with the really smart kids. I wasn't much of an athlete, but I was good enough and enjoyed it enough to hang out with them. I joined the Drama club, which is a whole different set of kids, a lot of them who didn't fit in anywhere else, so they formed their own cliche.
So, within those groups you had the popular and not, the well off and not, and the go getters, the coaters, and the perpetually picked on. I think I managed to float among most if not all of them. Too bad I was mostly an introvert to boot, or I might have enjoyed it all. :)
I remember eating sack lunch with four or five other kids who were like me, not really attached to any specific group, but moving between them because of our scholastic, athletic or expressive capabilities.
Kind of weird to look back on it. Glad I don't need to go through that ever again. :)
I don't know about being Captain America, but I do find myself increasingly on the opposite end of decisions and arguments that the majority seem to be making. I can be contrarian, though, so I don't know if that's just me taking the opposite side just to do it, or if it's because it's the right thing. It's hard to know sometimes.
I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I mused on it for some time after I wrote that wondering if Liza remembers it also. My parents were big on empathy, so it certainly shaped who I am today. When I was younger, my empathy was easy pickins' for those looking to take advantage, and it happened a couple times, but thankfully I'm also smart and figured out how to be both:)
You could not pay me to go back to my high school years either. I think it's a pretty tough time for the majority of people, except those who peak in high school, and are forever looking longingly back on the good ol' days :)
Now listen! Don't be that guy who holds the opposite opinion just because it's the opposite opinion! I think you are way smarter than that ;)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Intelligence, in my case, doesn't seem to matter, or else I'm not that smart. It just happens. It's like I should have become a professional at debating or something. if I know the sides, I don't have to agree with them to adequately debate them. Someone says something and a counter argument just materializes. It can actually be quite annoying sometimes because I just want to agree and let it go. :)
Aside for the first three and a half years of elementary school (things changed in fourth grade when we moved over Christmas break), high school is the next best time for me. Which should tell you how my middle school years went. :)
I think I started coming out of my shell a little more in high school after pretty much being pounded into it during middle school, so that's something. As I said, though, being humbled to some degree was good for me. The road I was on, even if I was young, was not a good one and I needed to be taken off of it, since I wasn't likely to do it myself.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You've got some good and not-so-good stories I'm hearing then!
Ugh! Middle school is the worst! I despise the entire concept actually.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Yeah, I do, though I think I've managed to some degree to forget my middle school years. Lot more failures than successes.
We ended up pulling our oldest out of seventh and eighth grade to home school him because during his sixth grade year, he would end up in tears because of the homework the teacher sent home. He just couldn't keep up with it to his own satisfaction—very conscientious about his grades at that point (still is, but he doesn't cry now, as far as I know anyway).
Best two years of his scholastic life up until that time took place during that time. I homeschooled both of them, and learned a lot in the process. When he went back to public school as a freshman in high school, he was feeling better about his abilities and his knowledge.
The younger one would have been fine either way. Didn't start caring about school or his grades until he got into college. :) I think it was partly because he was trying to impress his future wife, who is a lot more demanding of herself scholastically. It was good for him.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Being a parent and a teacher, I'm always in awe of those who do both simultaneously! It's a huge undertaking but one I imagine to be very rewarding and probably frustrating at times too.
Nothing like a girl to kick a boy into gear haha
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I think in my case, even when I was attempting not to be, I was alway dad rather than teacher to my sons. Which is fine. Parents have teaching roles, so I guess it was a natural enough extension of what I was already doing. And since I've been a lifetime student of different things, thanks to books, libraries and then the internet, learning a long with them was just another plus.
Well, it got the girl, I think. Actually, it may have been more of a case of opposites attract. :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit