My parents moved down here to Atlanta maybe seven or eight months ago. With a move like that, I find myself constantly unearthing little mementos of days gone by whenever they hand me a box labelled Libby. Of course most of these keepsakes are related to my high school years. These tiny tokens of nostalgia remind me of where I came from and who I was maybe 17 or 18 long years ago. I remember interests I’ve long since forgotten, friends that were close to me that I haven’t spoken to since graduation, teachers I adored and hated, things that I thought were SO important and seem so silly now. Is this how people feel at their 20 year reunions?
Today I found an essay I wrote for Mr. Harvey’s College English class. Oh, how I loved Mr. Harvey! I think any student that appreciated real wit and dry humor loved Mr. Harvey. He could be a true task master, but he was awesome, too. He’s one of the teachers that I actually appreciated while I was in his class.
I completely forgot how much I loved English. It was one of my favorite subjects – even the grammar segments had my heart. Yes, I was the tennis playing art geek in my formative years, but I had other pursuits and hobbies, too, and finding that essay reminded me of them.
I read the composition and laughed at how terribly written it is on so many levels (though I did snag an A which was no easy feat with Harvey’s standards). I mean I used commas as much as Elaine used exclamation points. I laughed because it’s just so funny glimpsing at my 17 year old voice as it emerges from the pages. It’s hilarious because now I have a blog and others actually read what I write regularly. I think Mr. Harvey might be pretty proud of that, though he’d be cringing at my horrendous use of grammar (or lack-there-of) in all of my posts.
It’s a good thing to be reminded of what we enjoyed in our younger years. It brings a freshness to the soul.
So for today’s throw-back, I thought I would share with you my 17 year old self as it desperately struggled to construct a piece of creative writing (I think it was a 2000 word minimum) requested by one of the toughest and best teachers on Earth. I typed it below (took me like two hours to do it) Read at the risk of engaging in poor writing choices.
Here’s to remembering other passions we once held dear and to you, Mr. Harvey – wherever you are …
That’s right. This girl got that grade. Thank you, Mr. Harvey!
