So as I’m sure I’ve said before, I moved a lot along the way. Dad was a preacher, so the church voted yearly if we should stay another year or move on. In high school, I attended three different schools in four years. In terms of English, it was a wild ride.
In junior high and my freshman year, I attended Johnson County High in Mountain City, TN. My freshman year, I was in the English class (no choice) with whoever else. That year, we did an in-class seated reading of Romeo and Juliet. I was Tybalt. Romeo was one of the rednecks, so assigned so he’d pay attention in class for a few days. I felt firmly held back by the experience (no, I didn’t want to be Romeo).
My sophomore year, we moved to Bristol, TN, a half hour away to a much bigger city. Before the school year began, we were counseled to make my schedule. They asked if I was advanced (A-level class), average (B-level), or below average (C-level) in English. Remembering my freshman year, I proudly announced I was an A.
The A-level English spent most of the semester diagramming sentences. I buddied up with the people around me, including a guy designing a world for his D&D, including really nice maps. We were very smart teens, but the teacher was hardcore, calling us stupid and wondering how we ever were chosen to waste her time. It was awful, and it crushed my interest.
We moved again my junior year (Bristol was a horrible experience for us, and the only single-year assignment). When asked what level of English I wanted, I went for low-achieving. I was stuck with the jocks, including people that went by Squash and EI (his last name was McDonald). I was bored silly and regretted my choice.
My senior year, finally in the same school for a year, I went for college prep with Dr. Pierce. Dr. Pierce was amazing, and we all loved him. He drove a limo to work (I believe he rented himself out on area prom nights), and he adjuncted at the local university. I was finally comfortable in a high school English class, and I prospered enough that when I went to college, I comfortably signed up for honors freshman English, which led me to…here. But what a rocky road to get there.
Bill Abbott, poet, web page 