Today has been like the experience of falling down a set of stairs. At first you feel as if you are on top of the world, but at the end you feel hurt and life kicks the shit out of you. Doesn’t that sound fun?
It started as an average school day (yeah, overused, fucking sue me). My phone and clock alarms woke me up at 6am. I turned on my monitor to brighten my day (literally) and started to do some homework. After finishing it up I played some Call of Duty 4 online with Team Hardcore. Two quick games and I managed to do decently well with my G3 and red dot attachment. After the two games I switched over to the news and ate breakfast. Then I went back to CoD4 and did a few levels of the arcade mode. Once that was all over I printed up the homework and got myself prepared for the last day of school for the week. Knowing I finished my lab yesterday, I felt invincible.
The drive to school was the same old routine I am use to. Parked in my usual row. Put up the window shades and placed the parking pass in front. Prepared the iPod for maximum listening potential. It was off to English. While walking to the Humanities building I felt a strange vibe as if something would happen today. I shrugged it off as nothing and continued on.
As I walked in the hallway to the building I noticed my teacher down the hall talking with another person and since I didn’t see the usual person I talk to before class, I headed in. One of the girls in the class was already seated. I headed to the back corner where my domain was. The roller chair was settled right near my desk like always. At the five minute mark until class started I wrapped up my headphones and prepared my iPod for pocket entry as the remaining students filed to their seats. The teacher walks in with her usual greeting and I break the routine slightly to give her the progress slip mentioning that I finished the writing lab. She tells me good job and the likes. I hear the others in the background chatter, some surprised. I head back to my seat. The teacher then starts to do the roll. Once she finishes she talks to the class about the writing lab and how everyone is progressing. No mention of my completion whatsoever. After the chat she gives us an assignment to do. A quiz to see how well we remember what we have learned in the class so far. I quickly go through it and sit back as if powerful. The teacher notices this gesture and walks down the isle to me. She asks if I am done and I tell her yes. She starts to look at my quiz and says that I was supposed to not only correct the sentences, but rewrite them as well. Slightly phased by this attack towards my superior might, I regain myself and work on fixing my mistake. Once everyone was done she told us that we were going to pair off into groups and make sure everyone is “on the same page.” I wondered to myself what soul would have the chance of being paired up with me. This is when the routine was thrown out the window and bliss went through my veins. It finally happened. I never though I would have this chance. Never expected it. I was paired up with “B” (withholding the name for various reasons, aka, to cover my ass). The teacher threw in that I would have to leave my “zone.” I grabbed my pencil and paper and headed over. “Don’t do anything stupid” went through my mind as I moved a seat closer to her’s. I took a seat in the desk and my voice was locked up. How do I start? I wasn’t prepared for this. She made the first move and asked about the first question on our quiz. My voice suddenly woke from its shock and answered. We made it through the quiz and during our wait for the others to finish I threw out the first move. I asked her how the lab was going for her. She said that she was on part two and then asked back about me finishing it. She seemed surprised but I told her that I went four days a week and she understood. She only goes twice a week due to her working. I told her about part three and then threw in a bonus for her. For part two, I told her, some of the answers for a few problems are already in the packet. So I told her to check for the one she was on when she goes back. She seemed happy about that. Then we talked about winding up in the class, one of the lower English courses. We both seem to be above the class’s level and I mentioned that all we need to do now is pass the CME (some fancy English exam name). She mentioned that someone told her it was easy. Before the teacher started going over the quiz I threw another stab at a conversation. I talked about the time I wrote an essay about bullshitting essays for my high school rhetoric class (yeah, that essay) and that I wrote it as a joke for the teacher. She thought it was “awesome.” I felt good. It was like I just scored some brownie points. The teacher than started the review and both of us ended up getting them all right (in our own ways). She then ended class early and “B” and I had to part ways. Still feeling the high of the moment I left the class in a good mood.
After getting out of English I headed for my car to swap books as the routine got back on course. I popped the trunk and threw my English binder in and grabbed my math gear. As I had about an hour before class I found one of my comrades and engaged in conversation about various subjects. Then it was on to math, like clockwork.
The math teacher prepared a quiz on the board for us covering the last few sections we have studied. It took me about ten minutes to finish and I turn it in as I wait for others to finish, just like always. After everyone is done he goes over it on the board. As usual I miss one point here and half a point there due to stupid mistakes that I always tell myself I will remember to fix. Next was a new section to learn. I dozed off a few minutes into the lesson and wake myself towards the end. Even though we only went over four problems the teacher decided to let us out twenty minutes early as a gift for Thanksgiving break. I gladly took advantage.
After the class I headed to his office door and check my grade. It had fallen 5% due to the last test. I told myself that I better do some improvement on the next test. Then I headed to the math lab where I endured an hour of boredom like all the other times I have gone there. Once an hour was up I headed out to my car again to swap books and binders. I grabbed my counsel binder and headed back. With an hour remaining I decided to relax and lay down on the grassy hill (also known as “Hill 1400”) under the trees. I closed my eyes and listened to my iPod until there were fifteen minutes remaining until my last class of the day would start. I got my ass up and headed over.
Since I didn’t see anyone waiting in the class, I decided to stand outside until someone took the lead for me. One of the former students from my high school approached and asked if I was waiting because of a possible meeting in our classroom (this happened to us last week). I told her no and we headed to the room. As I got in she asked if we had anything due and I told her it was just the cover letter rough draft. I pull it out and place it on his “mobile desk.” When then decide to chat as we waited for the teacher or others to arrive. We talked about the class and how it could be boring. Right before the teacher came in she asked if I actually interviewed people for our research paper. I quickly said no right as the teacher came in the door. It appeared he didn’t hear us which was a relief. He said hi and wondered if we were the only ones coming today (as a joke). The other poured in and the teacher joked to me about the people who usually sit near me being absent. I jokingly replied “it happens.” We got on with the people who were absent last week reading off their research papers. This happened until the end of the class time. The teacher told us to have a happy Thanksgiving and to be nice to people. I headed out.
As soon as I got out the class I looked for my friend (the one I talked to during the first break) as he needed a ride. We headed off and turned on to the freeway which was packed as usual. I made my way on and out of the lane I didn’t want to end up in. Driving normally through traffic I made my way a few miles from the school when a big rig swerved into my lane forcing me to swerve my car into the lane on my left. The truck’s back tires almost hit the passenger side as I avoided other cars on my side. After the truck sped up I quickly got back in the lane. My friend and I were shocked as fuck. Our hearts beating like mad. As we regained our calm we continued on. We noticed the truck continuing his rampage through the traffic and kept our distance. My friend pointed out that he looked high, which was probably the case. We got safely back to town and I dropped him off at his house. It was time for me to go home.
I get in and my dad is watching the news. I tell him about my day and he jokes like usual. In my room I unloaded everything off my person and went back down to watch the news. I was tired and felt crappy as I remembered that I forgot “B”‘s last name and wasn’t able to get some kind of contact information. An hour later and my parents and brother leave for their Scottish club meeting leaving me home alone. I watched Live Free or Die Hard unrated edition. It was nice to hear the swearing back in along with juicy blood. That made my day slightly better. Near the end I get a text from Andrew asking me if I would help him move tomorrow evening (that’s a whole other issue). I agreed and finished the movie. After the movie I went up to my room and did the usual internet things.
Now I’m typing this up and talking on AIM with a good friend (you know who you are) and suffering from a killer headache. I loaded up on Tylenol and can’t take anymore. Hopefully it goes away soon. My head really does feel like I fell down some stairs.
I’m hoping tomorrow is better.
outside the norm 
a year of suprises and failures with a touch of lessons learned
2007 was a crazy year. Many things have happened and each moment had some form of meaning. From the surprises to the failures, it has been one hell of a year. So many new things in what seemed as such little time. Transitioning from a high school student to an adult in college. With so many things it is hard to choose a single place to begin, so lets look back and remember the past year.
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