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As you can see in my profile, i attended Dale City Elementary School in Dale City, Virginia. You can also see in my profile that i attended the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, where i first met ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tomhundleyrn.
Recently, on Facebook, i reconnected with some peolpe i grew up with. As i stated in that post, we were very blessed in our growing up years, not least in that those of us who remained as the neighbors were transferred around us every three to five years, got along to the point that we're still in touch.
Come grade 6, those of us from Dale City Elementary were combined with the students from nearby Bel Air Elementary (which school the youngins in the neighborhood i grew up in attend today) and Neabsco Elementary found ourselves all together at Mills E Godwin Middle School, where we would be together for 3 years.
As some of you know, i've always been, or at least felt, a bit of an outsider, while at the same time having wonderful, supportive friends and family, and moving with relative ease as needed between groups. I've gotten over the outsider feeling as i've grown older, in part due to good career and job choices and in part due to learning to realize the advantages i have in my culture as a white male. Well, the rich social life i have helps, too. :)
As Middle School progressed, i felt more and more isolated - again plenty of friends and an active social life, but that does not preclude feelings of isolation. As 7th grade drew to a close, i was feeling simultaneously reasonably well liked and at the same time like most were really only tolerating me.
I remember when my guidance counselor talked to me about applying to Jefferson, and talking to me about what the school would be all about. So, thanks to the guidance counselor, i applied to be in the 1st class at the new magnet school.
I chose to apply in part to escape from the social situation i felt and in part because i was bored silly in school. Dad was still ambulatory and going to work as i embarked on the application process, though his speech had begun to slur, and his physical reaction times were slowing. I was terrified of getting into the car with him driving, but he drove me to all the testing sites i needed to get to take my exams to get into the school, including North Stafford High School in Garrisonville, VA, and West Springfield High School in Springfield, VA. He was very, very, very supportive of my attending that school. Mom, on the other hand, was opposed.
Anyway, coming back to were i was at the beginning, reconnecting with people on Facebook. I've been very surprised - in a good way - by people that have reached out to me there, which helps put into perspective my feelings of isolation and what back in middle school, and makes me wonder how much of that relates to my shyness, which is deeper than most think, despite my cheery, outgoing public face.
tomhundleyrn.Recently, on Facebook, i reconnected with some peolpe i grew up with. As i stated in that post, we were very blessed in our growing up years, not least in that those of us who remained as the neighbors were transferred around us every three to five years, got along to the point that we're still in touch.
Come grade 6, those of us from Dale City Elementary were combined with the students from nearby Bel Air Elementary (which school the youngins in the neighborhood i grew up in attend today) and Neabsco Elementary found ourselves all together at Mills E Godwin Middle School, where we would be together for 3 years.
As some of you know, i've always been, or at least felt, a bit of an outsider, while at the same time having wonderful, supportive friends and family, and moving with relative ease as needed between groups. I've gotten over the outsider feeling as i've grown older, in part due to good career and job choices and in part due to learning to realize the advantages i have in my culture as a white male. Well, the rich social life i have helps, too. :)
As Middle School progressed, i felt more and more isolated - again plenty of friends and an active social life, but that does not preclude feelings of isolation. As 7th grade drew to a close, i was feeling simultaneously reasonably well liked and at the same time like most were really only tolerating me.
I remember when my guidance counselor talked to me about applying to Jefferson, and talking to me about what the school would be all about. So, thanks to the guidance counselor, i applied to be in the 1st class at the new magnet school.
I chose to apply in part to escape from the social situation i felt and in part because i was bored silly in school. Dad was still ambulatory and going to work as i embarked on the application process, though his speech had begun to slur, and his physical reaction times were slowing. I was terrified of getting into the car with him driving, but he drove me to all the testing sites i needed to get to take my exams to get into the school, including North Stafford High School in Garrisonville, VA, and West Springfield High School in Springfield, VA. He was very, very, very supportive of my attending that school. Mom, on the other hand, was opposed.
Anyway, coming back to were i was at the beginning, reconnecting with people on Facebook. I've been very surprised - in a good way - by people that have reached out to me there, which helps put into perspective my feelings of isolation and what back in middle school, and makes me wonder how much of that relates to my shyness, which is deeper than most think, despite my cheery, outgoing public face.
