Here is my column from the June 7, 2008 edition of the
paper.
Twenty years fly by
Yesterday, a new crop of freshmen was unleashed on the world, as the Class of
2012 was promoted from eighth grade to high school students at Randolph and
Cambria-Friesland.It doesn’t seem possible, but 20 years ago I was enjoying the summer before my freshmen year of high school. Having a son two years away from high school himself is my reality check.
There are a lot of similarities between 1988 and 2008.
In 1988, the Writer’s Guild ended a six-month strike in
August, which played as much havoc with television show schedules as this year’s
Writer’s Guild strike did. An Asian country was the host of the Summer
Olympics, with the 1988 games held in Seoul, South Korea. I remember Flo-Jo’s
flashy outfits and outrageous fingernails and watching Greg Louganis hit his
head on a diving platform. Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal after
failing a drug test. He ran the 100M in 9.79 seconds, but the world record went
to Carl Lewis, who ran it in 9.92 seconds. The presidential race was underway
in 1988, with Bush-Quayle picked as the Republican candidates.
Some things are very different. A gallon of gas cost about $1.08 in 1988, and a first class stamp cost a quarter. Milk was about $2.30 a gallon, and eggs were 89 cents for a dozen.
In sports, the Lakers beat the Pistons for the 1988 NBA championship. That winter, the Milwaukee Bucks won their 1,000th NBA game.
Los Angeles Dodger Orel Herschiser was breaking records in the summer of 1988.
“The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne” were the top shows on TV. Mike Myers began his first season on Saturday Night Live that fall.
Radio stations played “Love Bites” by Def Leopard and “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa. I still can’t get Kylie Minogue’s remake of “The Loco-Motion” out of my head, or worse, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”
“DieHard” first hit screens in 1988. So did “Cocktail,” “Rain Man,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “Coming to America” and “Big.” The governator of California starred in “Twins.” Miss Minnesota Gretchen Carlson was crowned Miss America 1989.
My first day as a high school freshman is still very vivid for me. The members of the senior class seemed so much older. My best friend and I watched the boys in our class get hazed by upperclassmen, who made them push quarters across the gym floor with their noses.
There were about 25 people in my freshmen class. My class schedule included ninth grade English, Spanish I, algebra, art, P.E., physical science and choir.
The English teacher often let us play a hybrid of charades and Pictionary on the chalkboard after our weekly spelling test on Fridays.
My first embarrassing moment came at lunch on the first day, when I couldn’t open the combination lock on my locker and the janitor had to come by with bolt cutters so I could retrieve my lunch. I spent the rest of the lunch break at my best friend’s house. She lived a block from the school, and I spent many of my lunch breaks with her. The school had a semi-open campus. Students could leave school grounds on foot, but no one was allowed to drive.
I borrowed a pink dress to wear to my first Homecoming dance, and was tickled when a cute junior asked me to dance. My mom allowed me to get contact lenses when I was a freshman, but I still had braces. I went out for basketball and track, and got to attend the state track tournament as a relay alternate. I was in Knowledge Bowl and the Foreign Language Club. The school skiing trip in late February marked the last time I went downhill skiing in Colorado.
My advice to the Class of 2012 is not to get too nervous for the first day of high school. Get involved and make some great memories. It will be over before you know it.
Some things are very different. A gallon of gas cost about $1.08 in 1988, and a first class stamp cost a quarter. Milk was about $2.30 a gallon, and eggs were 89 cents for a dozen.
In sports, the Lakers beat the Pistons for the 1988 NBA championship. That winter, the Milwaukee Bucks won their 1,000th NBA game.
Los Angeles Dodger Orel Herschiser was breaking records in the summer of 1988.
“The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne” were the top shows on TV. Mike Myers began his first season on Saturday Night Live that fall.
Radio stations played “Love Bites” by Def Leopard and “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa. I still can’t get Kylie Minogue’s remake of “The Loco-Motion” out of my head, or worse, Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy.”
“DieHard” first hit screens in 1988. So did “Cocktail,” “Rain Man,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “Coming to America” and “Big.” The governator of California starred in “Twins.” Miss Minnesota Gretchen Carlson was crowned Miss America 1989.
My first day as a high school freshman is still very vivid for me. The members of the senior class seemed so much older. My best friend and I watched the boys in our class get hazed by upperclassmen, who made them push quarters across the gym floor with their noses.
There were about 25 people in my freshmen class. My class schedule included ninth grade English, Spanish I, algebra, art, P.E., physical science and choir.
The English teacher often let us play a hybrid of charades and Pictionary on the chalkboard after our weekly spelling test on Fridays.
My first embarrassing moment came at lunch on the first day, when I couldn’t open the combination lock on my locker and the janitor had to come by with bolt cutters so I could retrieve my lunch. I spent the rest of the lunch break at my best friend’s house. She lived a block from the school, and I spent many of my lunch breaks with her. The school had a semi-open campus. Students could leave school grounds on foot, but no one was allowed to drive.
I borrowed a pink dress to wear to my first Homecoming dance, and was tickled when a cute junior asked me to dance. My mom allowed me to get contact lenses when I was a freshman, but I still had braces. I went out for basketball and track, and got to attend the state track tournament as a relay alternate. I was in Knowledge Bowl and the Foreign Language Club. The school skiing trip in late February marked the last time I went downhill skiing in Colorado.
My advice to the Class of 2012 is not to get too nervous for the first day of high school. Get involved and make some great memories. It will be over before you know it.
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