no dark sarcasm

Last night, I was walking the dogs and could hear much football activity from the high school.  The school is less than half a mile from our house, and its stadium is THE stadium for the school district.  Each of the four district high schools' home football games and other events are held there.  

The announcer announced, the band played, the cheerleaders cheered, the crowd roared.  It all sounded very similar to when I was in high school several years ago - brought on feelings of reminiscence.  

I remember reading, somewhere, that our high school memories are usually so vivid because they're made during a time of big changes.  Although typically lasting only 4 years, high school takes us from awkward adolescence to early adulthood.  

What would a yearbook photo be without someone (not even covertly) flipping the bird?
Find  the Abby? (not flipping the bird)

I have no desire to return to high school or adolescence, but I miss certain things from that time of life.  

• I miss having a bunch of friends at the ready to hang out with, anytime.
• I miss the extra bonding that comes from competing on a sports team and performing in a band/ choir.
• I miss making frequent measurable progress in school subjects.
  
  

Then there was college.  College could be a grind, and I wasn't as involved in "student life" at a big university as I was at my small high school.  I was an undergrad back when most students didn't own  their own computers.  We walked around carrying our projects on disks and hoping for a decent vacant computer in one of the computer labs.

I remember one night near finals when final projects were coming due. I was in a full computer lab around midnight.  The air was thick with anxiety. There were no other sounds but that of clicking on keyboards.  Out of the clicking burst a classmate, Mary, 

"OH MY GOD, THIS SUCKS!"

STEM students are typically rather quiet and reserved.  Yeah... Mary wasn't one of those.

But still, from those days...

• I miss having a bunch of friends at the ready to hang out with, anytime.
• I miss the extra bonding that (hopefully) comes from meeting new roommates and completing group projects.
• I miss being focused on something that would (most likely) propel me to a professional career.

I recently started my coursework for a gardening program offered as an extension through the university.  I know so little about growing healthy plants.  A nice thing about this program is that it also provides information specific to Colorado growers.

I plan to use my acquired knowledge as a hobby and, among other things, do something with our yard.

All the courses are online.  I'm not "graded", but will receive a certificate of completion.  There's really no schedule, and I can work through the courses in any order.  I like the relatively low level of complexity and pressure and instantly related to this meme when I saw it:

Yeah, just gimme the basics

There are certainly things I don't miss about school.  Pressure and confusion being a couple of them.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

2. Write about what you miss most about going to school.