This Was Pointless and Self-Serving...

Fill in the blanks about your senior year of High School. The longer ago it was the better.

1. Who was your best friend?
My best friends were Sara and Aurora, but by senior year, we had broken up our usual lunch gang, and I was spending a lot of time with Melissa, Ashley, Kristen, and sometimes Nina. We had a rotation for driving to lunch, and when Melissa drove, we listened to Cake (more specifically the song Sheep Go To Heaven) and the Brak Show on tape, and when Nina drove, we blasted Kung Fu Fighting (not the cheesy Fatboy Slim version, either).
2. What sports did you play?
HA! By this time, I was pretty much done with "sports." By "sports," I'm referring to the semester I dabbled in tennis.
3. What kind of car did you drive?
I drove my dad's Dodge Ram, extended cab pickup truck - dubbed The Beast. The Beast is not only raised, but the muffler has been altered, so it's also loud. Man alive, I love that truck.
4. It's Friday night, where were you at?
If it wasn't date night, I was probably sitting at home with the folks. Sometimes playing board games, sometimes watching a movie. Because I was awesome.
5. Were you a party animal?
Well, see above, first of all. And second of all, No.
6. Were you considered a flirt?
Hardly. I was considered a serial monogamist.
7. Ever skip school?
Sometimes. One specific time comes to mind. We had decided that after the UIL Contest for Orchestra that we'd just go ahead and take a long lunch, or in other words, skip third period. We drove somewhere that we usually didn't have time for, sat there and shot the breeze, then took the long way back to school. Outside the orchestra room, we were debating whether or not to just skip school for the rest of the day, then the principal (who knew at least two of us by name) came over and asked what was going on. Sara and I put on our confident Student Council faces and said we'd just gotten back from Contest, and how was she doing today? She chatted with us for a while, while Ian sweat his body weight and shook in the background, and then she walked away. It was pretty funny, and we felt no remorse, but Ian never "skipped school" with us again.
8. Ever smoke?
Not a single cig.
9. Were you a nerd?
Oh, heck yes.
10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No. What would I have gotten suspended for? Staying until 9PM every night to prep for Prom, assuming I wasn't at High-Q, NHS, Student Council meetings, Orchestra rehearsals, or hostessing at Cheddar's? I didn't have time to do anything that would have gotten me suspended.
11. Can you sing the Alma Mater?
Sadly, I can't remember it anymore. I know it's the Notre Dame fight song, and it starts out "Cheers, Cheers for J.M. Hanks High/We proudly stand [?] as our team goes by...la la la la la la la la lala la la la laaaaa-a."
12. Who was your favorite teacher?
This is like Sophie's choice (okay, I need to either read that or stop referencing it). There were Ms. Phillips (Dusty), Mrs. Hiett, Sra. Skindell, Ms. Dunn (now Mrs. Anderson, but still goes by Dunn), Mr. Burrows (who forgot who I was when I visited last year, so I only feel lukewarm about this one), Mr. Turner...These and others were the important people who shaped my life and made it what it is today. But there were too many of them to pick a "favorite," and I learned different things from all of them.
13. Favorite class?
Probably AP Physics because of the people. English Lit was also fantastic, especially when we spent a whole month on P&P, then watched the Colin Firth version on tape. Plus we did Hamlet and then watched the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet. I also really enjoyed Calculus until I was accused of being the reason the boys at my table were doing so poorly (apparently I was a "distraction," which was news to me since I was there to, oh, I don't know, learn Calculus), and I loved government, although I wish I had been able to fit AP gov. into my schedule. One of my more favorite things senior year that wasn't quite a class, but I learned a lot there anyway, was High-Q. Also, the NRA Pistol course Mr. Turner taught. Academic Decathlon, unfortunately, wasn't one of my favorite classes. Maybe I would have done better if it had been...
14. What was your school's full name?
Jesse Mack Hanks High School. I shit you not.
15. School mascot?
Knights.
16. Did you go to Prom?
Yes, I did. Sophomore and Junior year, too.
17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
Not for a million dollars or the threat of a greusome death. Not even if you threatened to take away all of my yarn. Not even the Noro. Got it?
18. What do you remember most about graduation?
That it was such a major let down and not much fun at all. What an anti-climactic ending to all of the memories and moments.
19. Favorite memory of your senior year?
I don't have one. It's not that there weren't any, just that there wasn't one.
20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall?
I don't think we had one, and No. But if we did, I didn't know about it, and I may have been...who knows cares
21. Did you have a job your senior year?
Certainly. I was a hostess at Cheddar's restauarant. Classy.
22. Who did you date?
Ian was my boyfriend until some time after Valentine's day. We'd been together for a little over a year at that point, but after that I didn't really date much. I guess if I were to look back, Joey and I dated casually for a while, and I guess that Ricky was dating me, but I wasn't really dating him...which was kind of weird. Besides that, I was single until I got to MIT.
23. Where did you go most often for lunch?
Chick-fil-A, Arby's, Bonny's, Schlotzky's...and I can't think of any others. Sometimes we went to Sonic, but that was more of an afterschool event than a lunch event.
24. Have you gained weight since then?
Yes. Quite....mmm...
25. What did you do after graduation?
I went to PI (Project Interphase) at MIT. I didn't have too much time between graduation and Interphase (more than Alisa - who had days. I had weeks). I worked at Cheddar's and just waited to get the hell out of there. Also, my parents and I flew up here with grandma and my sister, and we did Boston -- we did it up right. Saw the capitol, Faneuil Hall, Cheers, the Common...I didn't know what any of that stuff was (aside from the capitol), but we did it.
26. When did you graduate?
2001