I cursed the Academy (Battle Ground Academy that is) multiple times in my many years I attended. There were so many points when I wanted to be out of the small private school sector and go to a normal public school. Yet now a good eight years later I realized how much worth it all had been.
It has been weird for me to be back in my hometown as an adult now and living a completely different life than a little middle schooler I once was. With all this old territory comes all the old friends who know you so well whether you like it or not. At our house warming party last night a majority of the friends that came were good ole Academy people. It's crazy that even after a move in the middle of high school to middle of nowhere Texas and four years of college we're all just the same ole people.
At one point last night I looked up and saw a flashback to where we all were in the sixth grade. Our awkward little adolescent bodies and innovative heads were just at the beginning of where life would take us. It brought the biggest smile to my face to know that a small private school in Franklin, Tennessee brought me some of the greatest people into my life. Most people say when they see someone they went to high school with that they usually just try to avoid them and not make eye contact, but we're not like that in the least. Last night we all were standing in a circle just cracking up about all our years together and how stupid we all had been like it was yesterday. We know intricate details about one another that we proud and not so proud of, but that's the great thing about it. We just love and accept it for what it is.
Yes it may seem like were this little click and seclusive to those on the outside, but there was something about the Academy that just did that to us. It bonded us into the people we are today, but it made us value so much more than just a good education. I can remember when I had the biggest crushes on some of the guys that were at our party last night, but as I stood there just laughing back and forth with them I couldn't help but smile that they really are the same people even after a 12 year maturity spell.
Having good people surrounding you like that for so long with daily interaction or not is something so genuine and special. I hated the Academy then, but I love what it has given me now. I've a best friend (yes with the exact same name) and so many more just from that one school. It's a beautiful thing... as corny as that sounds. It really is beautiful how you're placed in those positions of your life.
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