For us oldster's- What were you like in high school?

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sawboss

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May 31, 2007
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Nacogdoches, TX
Oh the glory days!  I was a big fish in a little pond, both literally and figuratively.  I graduated in 1980 from a Class "A" school in Texas, 6' 7" basketball and baseball collegiate scholarship recipient, Area IX FFA Vice President, Lone Star Farmer Degree, Most Likely to succeed, the boy next door.  My first semester of college showed just how small my pond was, because there were plenty of students with more accolades than myself.  In reflecting back I sure am glad that God has given us the ability to overcome our arrogance and continue to grow as people, because I never would have made it trying to live on my tiny success in High School.  I like who I am today, a whole lot better than who I thought I was then!
 

OH Breeder

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Feb 14, 2007
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Ada, Ohio
I am coming to the party late on this post. Will make it simple.

Graduated Class of 75 students in 1988. Small high school about 30 mintues from Red. Farm town Ada, OH by the way AAOK. University and farm town. All kinds of kids for as small as it was. Hung with book worms, some of the jocks, farm kids and the "heads". Enjoyed the herbal supplements ALOT through school and in to college. O0 Went to college on and off for 8 years. Started in Business ended up with a nursing degree and back to business, science degree and law. Sales, Marketing Blah Blah Blah.... thank the Lord for student loans which I am still paying off. WHEW!
Had cattle and hogs through elementary and high school. FFA and 4-H.  Worked for local dairy farm as well as our farm. Devliered pizzas when I was old enough to drive to buy my first truck. Did music, track football the first group of kids to do after school soccer. Was a life guard at the pool in the summer, thought I was cool swinging the whistle. Always had a great tan from lifeguarding and farm work.
Have worked alot of different jobs by choice whle always working as a ER or Critical care nurse.

Enjoyed High School but would not go back to it. I do not regret anything but have had a very blessed life. I look forward to 50 plus more....
 

justme

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Jan 29, 2007
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Missouri
Eventhough some belive it, but I wasn't the "mean" girl in highschool. I graduated from Edison High School in Ohio in 1989.    I will admit I was a jock.  Played Volleyball, basketball, and softball.  Won conference honors in volleybll and softball.  I wasn't your typical jock though.  After practices I was usually racing to a job or another ball league.  I was in 4-h and FFA.  Was our FFA president and Chapter sweethart my sr. year.  I was also our Jr. Fairboard president.  I was on the move constantly. 

My first car was a 1965 mustang my great uncle redid for me.  Sadly, on my first date (and a week before I got my license) somebody rearended my dream car.  I then bought a 1979 camaro with a sunroof and a kick butt cassette player in it.

I worked jobs from a hardwarestore to a nursing home cook.  If it paid well and was flexible with my sports schedule I think I tried it lol.

In 4-H I was restricted to "girl" projects until I hit FFA.  I was a champion sewer and knitter.  Never bought a prom or homecoming dress, always made it for my 4-H project.  Also did well painting in Creative arts.  My first animal at the fair was a lamb.  I just kept saving and adding to my poor dads little acerage.  I was so blessed that he was understanding ecspecially since he was a "town" boy growing up.

Went to OSU/ATI and majored in beef production.  Managed  Penn's Polled Herefords in Kentucky before coming home and getting married. 

 

justme

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Missouri
just reread some of these....Red always made up the best topics!  thank you for making me smile today! :)
 

Bradenh

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Jan 10, 2010
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Central Texas
well im in highschool right now but im going to talk anyways. i have 41 kids in my entire graduating class and we have a tiny school (pk-12 in 2 buildings). so everybody is like brothers and sisters because we are forced to be. im the only kid in my grade who shows cattle and even though theres 20 in ffa we are still looked down upon as rednecks  and all that stuff. everybody plays football and basketball (exept me, id rather show all the time at jackpots) but its cool. im the class clown and i try to keep my classes fun with my buddies by making everybody laugh.
 

kobo_ranch

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Aug 30, 2008
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TEXAS
High school... well a while back.  I'll work up to senior year. '80 grad.  I was born and raised in a relatively small town in TX.  Started showing after begging my ranch dad in 6th grade to let me get a steer...showed till I was about a freshman in HS after that my love of cattle changed to my love of fun (and boys).  Wasn't one of those girls but did like the fellas... wouldn't say I was the most popular girls but most of them and I were friends.  After turning 16 Dad made it clear I would have to keep riding the school bus and no car unless I got a job... so interviewed at one of the local banks and got hired on the spot.  Worked my Jr and Sr year.  Wanted to be on the drill team but Dad said gas was too expensive to be running up and down the road (about 12 miles to town)... so decided on the car and the job.  Found a awesome '76 Camero (Robins egg blue with the awesome cassette.  (my brother was at college and just happened to have a friend that needed to sell it... Dad has his eye on a crappy Chevy Vega with a window that didn't roll up!)  Boy did I get lucky... borrowed the money from the bank (I got a job at) and bought the Camero!  That car would run... paid $3000 bucks ($103 bucks a month) I so wish I had kept it... but drove it a year and a half and sold it to a gal for $3750 and she ended up totalling it.  :((.  I do remember me and my gal pals did have fun in that car running around and playing my music.  Loved to dance and snuck off to the big city every once and a while with our fake IDs.  Those were the days.  Try to attend most of the reunions... but living in the same area you went to High School you pretty much miss the ones that aren't around.  The rest know where you are if they wanta see ya.  Time has flown that's for sure. <beer>
 

FutureBreeder2013

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Feb 14, 2009
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New Hampton, Iowa
Show stopper 95 said:
well im in highschool right now but im going to talk anyways. i have 41 kids in my entire graduating class and we have a tiny school (pk-12 in 2 buildings). so everybody is like brothers and sisters because we are forced to be. im the only kid in my grade who shows cattle and even though theres 20 in ffa we are still looked down upon as rednecks  and all that stuff. everybody plays football and basketball (exept me, id rather show all the time at jackpots) but its cool. im the class clown and i try to keep my classes fun with my buddies by making everybody laugh.

Im pretty much the same except for the sports part, I play football and wrestle.
 

nobody

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Nov 6, 2010
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East Texas
I graduated in 1990...and the only thing I knew about Ag or FFA is they had a coke machine down there in the AG shop.  I wasn't into cows, sows, or plows as they say.  My husband on the other hand was/is the cattle person.  He went to a small 1a Texas  school were AG is a close second to football. We get a big kick out of seeing his pictures from high school..wranglers with a rope belt, and ropers.  And the cattle sure have changed along the way.  My husband showed simmis and they sure look different now.  Back then they were big and tall and looked like a race horse, not to mention the color.  He never did show a black.  Our son goes to the same high school now and we show cattle with some of my husbands class mates from the '80s.  It really is a neat experience to have the kids and parents that showed together travel to the stock shows.  I wouldn't trade it for anything..we have a blast. 
 

pjkjr4

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Jun 17, 2008
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Oklahoma
THis is a pretty neat topic. Made me reminisce a little. I graduated high school in 1990 in a class of 111 people. Even in that small school, there were the little "groups". I guess I was in the "ag group", although I was able to interact with just about everyone. I sure did alot of stupid things that I wish I could take back, but there were alot of good times too. I played football (we really sucked) and basketball through my junior year, and then decided to concentrate on my show cattle and showpigs, along with our family's farm. I had what I thought were good friends, but as time went on, we all seemed to go our own ways. I only have 1 close friend from back then, and another that I see/speak to from time to time, mainly at cattle shows. I thought they were great times, but it doesn't even hold a candle to the time I'm having with my wife and kids. BTW.....stone-washed jeans still rock!!!! <rock>
 

Cowfarmer65

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Jul 14, 2007
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3060 South McNaughton Rd. Douglas, ON. Can.
Small farm community upbringing here. My nickname through high school was " little fat farmer" definitely what I still am. At that time though I was anything but. I was a jock. Track team, cross country, volleyball, hockey. Funny thing of it is, I could run and skate circles around. My Junior Hockey career was short lived as I beleived in old time hockey, you know, the goalie comes out of the net to play the puck and he's fair game. That was the end of that chapter of my life....
Cows were my life from as early as I can remember. Started fitting at age 10. Hereford breeder and did 27 fairs the first year. School never interested me. Never studied for exams in high school or college.
I suffered the ridicule from teachers and staff advisors. Coming from a small community and following a brother 3 yrs. older who was a brainiac and nerd I heard it all. The best was " I know you have the genetic capability Mr. Crogie".......hell to me " genetic capability" is what I expected from my cows, not myself or any human. This same Staff Advisor had to eat his word when I graduated on time without applying myself........I wonder what would have happened if I had applied myself.
Three  days after graduating from College I got a call from a large Hereford  Breeder in our province offering me a herdsmans position.......I can still see my dad sitting at the kitchen table when I got off the phone, I had asked the gentleman if I could have a couple of days to mull it over and then reply. My father, at his best, said this to me, " you are a man now son and I can't and won't tell you what to do, you have to decide for yourself. I will tell you this. Think of the number of individuals you have met who were herdsmen while you were growing up. When they got older or the well off people dispersed, what did they have to fall back on."  I got up from the table went to the phone and called the gent back and told him that I appreciated his consideration, but I would not be taking the job as I was going to take my apprenticeship as a Plumber, to which he replied, " excellent choice" and wished me well. A couple of years later the gentlmans wife passed away and the herd was dispersed and the farm donated to a well noted  Canadian coffee franchise for their Kids Camp. I did serve my apprenticeship and now work for the Department of National Defence as a Contract Inspector. If my teachers and staff advisors could see me now.......lol
My first car was a hand me down 73 Chev Impala that passed everything but a gas station. Nicknamed it Black Betty. I'm sure it had some sort of navigational equipment cause it always got me home........wouldn't do that again.
 

jphelps

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Jul 30, 2010
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Bremen, IN
I'm also still in highshool, I go to a school of about 3500 kids, there's around 900 in my grade alone. That being said everyone does not know everyone, I can go to school each day and see a person I have never seen in my life. I'm just your average kid at school, not really all that popular but I just get along with most people. I don't do any sports anymore, used to do basketball, football and track but cattle are more important now. I also have a love for music, i play the guitar and am in a band which I'm enjoying a lot. Now you would think with this bigger sized school there would be a lot of FFA members?  Not the case there is only about 40 kids in the whole school who are in. This being because most of our district is in a rapidly developing suburban area. The district spreads from the north side of the county to the south. The northern part is the developed part the southern is not, which is where I live. The developing area is moving it's way farther south every year though. I know that when I get older I want to be a cattle man, and take after pops and sell pioneer seed.
 

jalebe

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Jan 2, 2009
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Edwardsburg, Mi
jphelps said:
I'm also still in highshool, I go to a school of about 3500 kids, there's around 900 in my grade alone. That being said everyone does not know everyone, I can go to school each day and see a person I have never seen in my life. I'm just your average kid at school, not really all that popular but I just get along with most people. I don't do any sports anymore, used to do basketball, football and track but cattle are more important now. I also have a love for music, i play the guitar and am in a band which I'm enjoying a lot. Now you would think with this bigger sized school there would be a lot of FFA members?  Not the case there is only about 40 kids in the whole school who are in. This being because most of our district is in a rapidly developing suburban area. The district spreads from the north side of the county to the south. The northern part is the developed part the southern is not, which is where I live. The developing area is moving it's way farther south every year though. I know that when I get older I want to be a cattle man, and take after pops and sell pioneer seed.
And I remember when Penn High school didn't exist.
 

aandtcattle

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Nov 18, 2010
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489
Location
Hay Springs, Nebraska
THIS IS A GREAT THREAD.
I grew up on a beef cow, dairy, farrow to finish and sheep operation in the panhandle of Nebraska.  I am the oldest of 3 kids and the only boy.  I went to country school until my freshman year when i got to go to town, finally. There were 17 great kids in my graduating class, 10 girls and 7 boys, a guy's gotta love those odds.  I was active in football, basketball, track and baseball and was a starter all four years in all sports and state qualifier in all sports except basketball.  I also participated in chorus and swing choir but I loved athletics and the social part of high school and would go back in a heartbeat.
I never had very good grades, I just did enough to stay eligible to play sports.  Although we had a very strong shop, welding and mechanics program, we did not have an FFA Chapter which was a bummer for me.  My parents were very supportive of me and my sisters and strived to help us do what we really wanted to do despite money being extremely tight when I was a kid.  Mom would take us kids around the area to several judging contests and we pursued the livestock judging thing as well as showing, independently, without the aid of FFA or a 4H club. 
My senior year was bliss.  I loved every day of it.  Pre-season interviews from newspapers and radio stations, girls asking me out nearly daily, it was great.  I was voted president of my senior class and won the title of Homecoming King, I just didnt think life could get any better than the fall of 1996.  We had a great football season and I collected several post-season awards and honors and began looking at college offers. 
This was a crossroads in my life that was vital to my future direction and I am glad I took the road I did.  I tossed the football scholarships and took a full ride livestock judging scholarship to a small community college and majored in animal science. 

I dated all through high school and college but never met the right one until I moved back to the place I was raised, except by then it was exclusively a beef cow operation.  About a year and a half after I moved home I met the woman who would be my wife.  She too went to the same high school as I did but since she is 5 years older than I am and I didnt start school there until I was a freshman, we never had met before September 22, 2000.  I had known her dad and uncles for years but never had the opportunity to meet her.  March 22, 2001 we were wed in Deadwood, SD.  We now have a son and daughter and are ranching with her parents. 
A lot has changed since high school, but I still love my life.
 

sue

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May 1, 2007
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I was Class President. I had a mullet.... I was voted Team Player in all of the sports  many times. We hosted alot of parties . Pure angel .

My sister and I usually wore plaid bell bottom pants to show in, I dont know how many remember the nylon belts but I had 3 different colors. I did prep my collar at all times . I loved Miami Vice,

I stood on a bale of hay to trim top lines and man could I ball a tail, we had to really crank to get those thing s high enough.

I drank Diet Coke out of a glass bottle, I remember when the seat belt law came along. I know that we put 9 HS students in a Oldsmobile Omega drove to Burger King and "Hade our way" ordered a burger cut into 9 pieces. That was the beginning of that promo then. Fuel was in the 80Cent price range. I didnt smoke but I think 1.25/

My shorts for Basketball and Volleyball were well above the thigh. Polyester baby. Yes I did have a kill my last V-ball game, that's when they spike and you block it with no return ( yes I could jump like no other)

  I listened to Bob Segar, Go-gos, Michael & Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Loverboy, AC-DC, Rap was just starting but I didnt like it. Bobby Brown . M-TV was just starting.

My highschool boyfriend  .. the name slips my mind. I recall cassette tapes were the only option, cds came about college and cell phones were definately not an option. But it was cool to hang out by the pay phone in the halls of High School. Oh Troy was his name.. and we wore matching Jordache Jeans and oxfords to the dance! Penny loafers for sure. REally tight jeans was the trend then

 

trevorgreycattleco

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Mar 22, 2010
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Centerburg, Ohio
I have been thinking about this awhile now and I will keep it short.
I was a jock to the limits. I spent my childhood playing baseball against Pete Rose's son and a bunch of other kids whos dads played for the big red machine. I was groomed to be a major league pitcher from birth a think. Our high school basketball team was awesome and we only lost once my senior year. got upset in the high school tourney :mad: I never had to apply myself in school because we were the jocks and we were what our little town revolved around. When we played ball, the fire marshall would be there to close off the gym once it was full. it was truly a great time for me. I was offered chances to play ball at some small schools but i really loved golf and had a scholarship offer for it. In the end I choose to not take any offers and just go do my own thing. Dumb I know. I rolled my pants up and folded them tight and wore boat shoes with no socks always. Sported a high and tight flat top and thought I was a gangster. I listened to NWA, Snoop Dog, and had huge speakers bumpin the base at ALL times. Never ever ever was I around beef cows. I was a womanizer and a punk. I ran through women like socks. Of all the things i was and did it is that, that bothers me the most. Took me a long time to learn respect for others and hurt alot of feelings along the way. Above all else i would say i was the guy who would throw snowballs into your classroom, hit you in the face with a dodgeball, pick a fight with anybody, and give my lunch to the poor kids in our school. I wasn't a complete ass, just close to it. maybe I still am a ass, some on here would agree. ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSHZMEAGlQ
 

firesweepranch

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Jun 17, 2010
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SW MO
Bring in the memories! Let’s see; I was born and raised in Southern California, at the time the number one dairy county in the US! Most dairies around us had a minimum of 1200 milking cows, with upward of 5000 being normal.  :eek:
But, I was raised a horse girl. We showed Paint horses actively, my parents put all their money into it. We had a whopping ½ acre of land where we kept up to 12 horses at a time. Always breeding and showing. I listened to good old country music, and even hit an Alabama concert once! Loved that group! Then I hit high school, and found Ag and the FFA. Being the youngest of three girls, I was the first to take ag classes. Our ag program was not involved above the local level, but my adviser was big into pigs! By my senior year, I had rented a few acres of land and had over 10 sows and two boars that I was breeding for show pigs and showing instead of the horses. We were called the “Future ***ots of America” and numerous other insults, but I did not care. I was never involved in sports, none of my family ever was (we do not even watch games on TV). I lived, ate, and breathed ag. I would get to school early to hang out on the high school farm, and stayed after to hang out at the farm.  I was known as the ag geek, could AI any sow, and wore tight jeans with boot cut bottoms to school every day. I got straight A’s, and loved education.  I was kind and fun loving, loved to take people around in my chromed up white Ford Ranger pick up! Oh, and I had a mullet!
I graduated in a class of over 500 students, received my State Farmer Degree, and worked at an equine hospital while I attended college to become a vet (and ran my hog operation). I Loved life. Got a great job working for the university in research, and then met Mr. Wrong.  I eventually had to leave my great job with the university because of Mr. Wrong not being able to hold a job and I needed more money. Put my life on hold of 10 years, left Mr. Wrong, and went back to school to complete my BS degree and my Masters Degree in Ag Education. <party>
I am the same person today, but I have learned how to stand strong in my faith in Jesus Christ and not to waiver for anything or anybody! Oh, and I am more mature, moved up to a F250 diesel pick up and a WAY bigger trailer, along with being married to Mr. Right for 10 years now. (thumbsup)
But I still have horses, some from the original mare that I kept as my best friend until the day she died at the age of 29 in 2007 (I got her when I was 10 years old). They are more pets now, since the cattle have consumed our lives lately!
 

sue

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May 1, 2007
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I NEED TO PHOTOS OF EVERYONE IN THE MULLET .... PLEASE  PLEASE. i HAD ONE TOO. i WILL LOOK FOR A PICTURE <party>
 
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