What was High School like for you.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. Hell.

I attended three high schools, in three different parts of the country. My freshman year was in southern Georiga. It was a predominatly African American high school. Most of the funds were spent to rebuild the school and the academic part SUCKED (outdated books, teachers who weren't really very good). I got called "faggot" in the hallways. I was harrassed by a number of students and even a teacher. It was a HORRIBLE school.

My sophomore year was in western Pennsylvania. It was an all white school (3 African American students, and a handful of Latinos). It was very well-funded, many teachers held doctorates, and there was a variety of courses offered. The school even had a computer lab (this was in 1985) and an indoor planetarium. I was harrassed by a number of people, including a teacher, but often it was for being Southern and having a strong Southern accent. I did have one student and his buddies who used to torture me relentlessly, even during class and teachers did nothing (except one). Though, I also had one of the hottest guys in school buddy up to me (I was very smart) and he protected me, including in a bathroom incident. I usually avoided the bathrooms in HS. I would rather wet my pants, then get caught in the bathroom. I had ways around it.

My junior and senior years were in northern Virginia, just outside DC. It was a mixed school, had decent teachers, basically a "movie" high school. I got harrassed there too, but I did have some friends, including members of the football team, the stoners, and the two most popular girls, so they acted as buffer for many things. I had the hottest lockermate and he was very popular, so he also protected me on a few occasions. The phone calls to my house were the worst.

I attended HS from 83-87. AIDS and gay were almost synonyms. It was a very scary time in many ways. Since then, I found out about one person being gay, but I don't have contact from anyone from any of my former schools. I HATED high school.