Family History Tuesday: Education
Designz By DeDe has posted another Family History Tuesday question. (I'm kind of liking these.)
I went to Gregory Gardens kindergarten. It was a public school, and I loved it! I learned to read. Unfortunately, the school closed due to budget cuts, and I went over to...
Christ the King School. Catholic school. The first graders were just learning to read, while I had mastered it. I refused to recite the alphabet at the beginning of class because that was for babies. I hated CTK. As an adult, I can see that some of the problems I had there were based on my somewhat bratty behavior. However, I wasn't skinny and pretty. I was fat. I couldn't play sports. I hated recess. I was incredibly smart, and there weren't any advanced courses for me to take. I had the same kids in my class year after year, and none of them really liked me, and I didn't like them. The teachers got annoyed with me for trying to one-up them. I had an awful elementary and junior high school experience.
Fortunately, I went back to public school for high school. College Park High School was, at the time, one of the ten best schools in the Bay Area. I had a hard time finding my niche academically, but once I got into the advanced courses, I did better. I found lots of friends, and I'm still friends with the ones who were most important to me. I took a lot of Drama classes. Craig Houston Brewer, who directed Black Snake Moan with Samuel L. Jackson, was a teacher and director. All the girls had huge crushes on him. I remember telling him that, and he blushed like a girl. It was fun. Overall, I actually liked high school. I don't have a lot of regrets from that period of my life.
My first choice college was UCLA, but I didn't get into the theatre program. Carnegie Mellon University offered me a great grant, so I decided to go there. I was insanely homesick my first semester, and even got the transfer application for the UC (University of California) system. However, towards the end of my first semester, I got really involved in Scotch n Soda and found friends. I still wanted to be an actor at that point, so I tried out for the College of Fine Arts - again. I did it my sophomore year as well, and I might have actually done it for junior year. Somewhere along the way, I knew I wasn't going to be an actor. At the end of my freshman year, I applied for and got into the new Bachelor of Humanities and Arts program. Ours was the first class to have gone through the whole program. It was great! I admit, I chose it mostly because I didn't have to take Calculus, but the program was really good for me. I got to take a lot of different classes with amazing professors. I got to create my own major, do an honors thesis...
I loved college. I miss it. I do have regrets, most of them involving things I wish I had done. Gone traying down Schenley Hill. Built a snowman. Paid more attention in certain classes. Not dated one of my students. Applied for the HCI or the Entertainment Technology programs. Taken more advantage of all the stuff there is in Pittsburgh. I miss it. It all went by in a blink, really. As difficult as that time was, it was still the greatest time of my life.
I do want to change careers, entirely. A friend of mine has me thinking about adoption law. Maybe, after we do adopt again, and both kids start school, maybe Mommy will go and try and be a lawyer. I do wish I had gotten a graduate degree. I feel it really would help me. Of course, at the time, I had no money to go to school and I was offered insane amounts of money to be a tech writer. So... priorities.
- What schools have you attended?
- What education have you received?
- Is there something you would like to study now?
I went to Gregory Gardens kindergarten. It was a public school, and I loved it! I learned to read. Unfortunately, the school closed due to budget cuts, and I went over to...
Christ the King School. Catholic school. The first graders were just learning to read, while I had mastered it. I refused to recite the alphabet at the beginning of class because that was for babies. I hated CTK. As an adult, I can see that some of the problems I had there were based on my somewhat bratty behavior. However, I wasn't skinny and pretty. I was fat. I couldn't play sports. I hated recess. I was incredibly smart, and there weren't any advanced courses for me to take. I had the same kids in my class year after year, and none of them really liked me, and I didn't like them. The teachers got annoyed with me for trying to one-up them. I had an awful elementary and junior high school experience.
Fortunately, I went back to public school for high school. College Park High School was, at the time, one of the ten best schools in the Bay Area. I had a hard time finding my niche academically, but once I got into the advanced courses, I did better. I found lots of friends, and I'm still friends with the ones who were most important to me. I took a lot of Drama classes. Craig Houston Brewer, who directed Black Snake Moan with Samuel L. Jackson, was a teacher and director. All the girls had huge crushes on him. I remember telling him that, and he blushed like a girl. It was fun. Overall, I actually liked high school. I don't have a lot of regrets from that period of my life.
My first choice college was UCLA, but I didn't get into the theatre program. Carnegie Mellon University offered me a great grant, so I decided to go there. I was insanely homesick my first semester, and even got the transfer application for the UC (University of California) system. However, towards the end of my first semester, I got really involved in Scotch n Soda and found friends. I still wanted to be an actor at that point, so I tried out for the College of Fine Arts - again. I did it my sophomore year as well, and I might have actually done it for junior year. Somewhere along the way, I knew I wasn't going to be an actor. At the end of my freshman year, I applied for and got into the new Bachelor of Humanities and Arts program. Ours was the first class to have gone through the whole program. It was great! I admit, I chose it mostly because I didn't have to take Calculus, but the program was really good for me. I got to take a lot of different classes with amazing professors. I got to create my own major, do an honors thesis...
I loved college. I miss it. I do have regrets, most of them involving things I wish I had done. Gone traying down Schenley Hill. Built a snowman. Paid more attention in certain classes. Not dated one of my students. Applied for the HCI or the Entertainment Technology programs. Taken more advantage of all the stuff there is in Pittsburgh. I miss it. It all went by in a blink, really. As difficult as that time was, it was still the greatest time of my life.
I do want to change careers, entirely. A friend of mine has me thinking about adoption law. Maybe, after we do adopt again, and both kids start school, maybe Mommy will go and try and be a lawyer. I do wish I had gotten a graduate degree. I feel it really would help me. Of course, at the time, I had no money to go to school and I was offered insane amounts of money to be a tech writer. So... priorities.