I posted my prom picture on my blog so I may as well unleash it here, too. Please be kind...

Hmmm. I think it has to be the epic party I threw FRESHMAN year that all the SENIORS came to.

I still swoon at the memory of how popular I felt...if only for one night. =)

D'oh! I added an extra l in the link so it came out wrong. Let me try again. My prom picture.

Wow! Are you just extra short, or he is extra tall? Or both? Too cute! And he kinda sorta looks like Kevin Bacon, but I'm sure he's heard that a million times. Haha.

High school memories... oh dear, let me think...

I met my husband in high school, but we hated each other at the time. Well, no, actually, it was more like, I didn't so much care for him (read: he scared me), and he had a crush on me but didn't want me to know. There is also an age difference between us. When I was a senior he was a sophomore. To show you just how different our personalities are, here is my still-very-vivid memory:

I was always a goodie-goodie, to the point where I would get asked to run errands or do favors for the teachers because they trusted me to actually do it and not just randomly meander the halls. Joe was always getting in trouble (not a bully, though; I later found out that he was beating up the bullies to protect the innocent kids, but when you're a shy teenage girl, fighting is fighting and you want nothing to do with it). One day (I believe it was junior year, which made Joe a freshman), I was asked to take a pink slip (yeah, it's as bad as it sounds) to a certain classroom, hand it to the teacher, and then go back to study hall. Simple, right?

The dreaded slip in my hand happened to be a note to the teacher telling him that one of his students (that would be Joe) needed to go to the office immediately, no questions asked. I went to the classroom, handed the teacher the slip, and there's Joe sitting in the front desk right by the door. I, of course, avoided all eye contact, handed over the slip, then high-tailed it out of there.

And that was that.

Years later, right after Joe finished high school, we started dating and I asked him if he remembered that day. He very clearly did, and he said I had a look of terror on my face and he kept trying to smile at me to get me to smile, and that it made him think more about how he was viewed in other people's eyes, and from that day on, he worked toward changing. So me and the pink slip that day were part of the reason he was a somewhat different person by the time he finished school, which led us to getting together, and eventually, getting married.

How's that for a messed up love story? Haha. :)

My fave memory would have to be the time they broad cast the World Cup soccer (2006) live to Fed Square (central Melbourne, AU place) for everyone to watch.

Live.

So this is at one, two am in the morning.

So my friend Rachel told her parents she was staying at mine, I told my parents I was staying at hers, and we stayed out allllll night and watched the soccer.

Neither of us had seen a match of it before in our lives but it didn't matter.

There were fights, cops, drinking, caffine pills, crazy Australian attire (think flags, tees, boxer shorts, paint on faces).

The next morning we took a train out to Lilydale (the furtherest train line in-and-out of the city) and back to kill time before we went home.

We woke to tonnes of business men, staring at our paint-stained faces and Australian flag tops.

The best part - our parents never found out!!!
Best time of our lives!

Oh wow, just one memory? My high school was small - only 129 in our graduating class - and even though a lot of people didn't like that, it was actually one of my favorite parts. I liked getting to know everyone and have that sense of friendship that you may not get in a bigger school that had 500 people per class, and I loved having the chance to be so involved in various programs and activities. I think a lot of the time, those two things went hand-in-hand, and the one example that stands out the most is definitely among my favorite memories from high school.

Our school had (and still does, I believe) a special event called Involvement Day every other year. All regular classes are canceled for the day, and instead students have the opportunity to choose from a given number of sessions and hear speakers talk about a wide array of topics. The common thread that wove them all together was the idea of getting involved and making a difference - preventing animal abuse, volunteering for local charities, that sort of thing. It was a day everyone always looked forward to, and I still remember how excited I was when I got to participate for the first time during my sophomore year. I took it a step further when I was a senior, and I was absolutely thrilled when the coordinator for the event (one of my favorite teachers ever!) asked me to be on the steering committee. It was a crazy amount of work - we started planning in October for April - but I can honestly say that I loved every minute of it. It was one of the most fulfilling things for both me and the rest of the steering committee (seriously, we didn't even mind going in to school over spring break to work!), and to this day, I always smile when I think back on all the different memories I have from it. Getting one of the anchors from our local ABC affiliate to speak and being his student escort for the day was a personal highlight for me since my dream then was to work at that station, and I was beyond ecstatic at the great response he received. Beyond that, though, there are so many special memories - seeing the excitement on the other students' faces and hearing how inspired they were to get involved, listening to the speakers tell those of us who helped organized the event how proud they were to be a part of it, getting to be involved with the opening and closing assemblies, and really just sharing in this special day with everyone. This April will be nine years since that Involvement Day, and the other members of the steering committee and I still sometimes contact each other and reminisce. There's a bond there now that lasts long beyond the walls of the building. And really, isn't that part of what high school is supposed to be about?

I went to high school in India, where we had something called a "library period," in which we'd all go down down into the library in the basement and do whatever we liked. Most of us read, some people stood in the corner and snickered over images and words they'd seen in books, and some thought of it as the most boring thirty-five minutes of their lives.

One time, the library downstairs was closed. I'm not sure why it was closed-- I think it was getting renovated, but I could be wrong-- and for the next eight classes, instead of us going to the library, the librarian came to each class. We were allowed to do whatever we liked-- paint, draw, read, finish homework, whatever-- quietly. It was basically thirty-five minutes of do whatever you want. For the first couple of classes, I don't think anything happened, but then the librarian-- bored, probably-- decided to start reading a book to the class.

To be sure, there were people who were not interested, there were those who wanted to read their own books, do their own thing. But then, the opposite happened.

It was, now that I look back on it, a rarity. This room full of sixth-graders, rapt in attention as a librarian no one liked read passages from Don Quixote. Over two dozen sixth graders, waiting in anticipation each week for her to come up to class early to resume where she'd left off. I never again read Don Quixote (no specific reason), but I still remember images from that book.

I love your poofy sleeves! Very fashionable :-)

Hmm, I was not someone who looks back very fondly on the high school years. haha. I think the college years were a lot more scandalous, exciting, and memorable.
But I guess the best memory is being part of the tennis team. Lots of fun practices and travelling. My friend Patricia and I were co-captains and we're still very good friends. I just went to her wedding last weekend!

That picture is not so bad, actually! I have a MUCH MUCH worse dance picture. It was a Valentine's dance, and I was wearing a black dress. The photographer had thoughtfully brought along a black velvet background so basically both of us disappeared. Also, my date (now husband) put his arm around my shoulder right on top of my long (curly perm) hair so he kinda looks like he might be throttling me. Also, I was caught mid-blink so my eyes were mostly closed. WORST. PHOTO. EVER.

My photo does not do justice to the dress's giant butt bow. Remember that fashion offense of the 80s prom and bridesmaid dresses? The butt bow? Oh, my. (This was actually 1992, but I think I should have 80s hangover amnesty. Also, it was a borrowed dress.)

This was one of my early dates with my now-husband. Never would have dreamed I'd meet him so young, but I count myself lucky I did. Tomorrow we celebrate 14 years married.

(And the prom picture we had a few months later was much better, the dress marginally better.)

Neil - nice tux!! I totally just snorted out loud.

You guys, I'm loving these! I'm amazed that two of you, in just these entries alone, met your husbands in HS! Happy anniversary, Kris!

Melissa - I was tennis team captain too. Wish I still had a chance to play, it's something iI really miss.

Lydia - I'm 5'2, and I think he's 6'5. It was ridiculous!

I was the preacher's kid in a small town so I didn't get invites to wild parties. I was however Student Council president and got to be alone with the VP to give the morning announcements. A little flirting with one of the hunkiest guys!

I didn't go to prom or homecoming but showed up early to set up and vote, think Footloose.

One of my favorite memories of high school was often repeated. I went to prep school in Massachusetts. I was a day student. We had a dress code. I got good grades. I was captain of all my sports teams. And on the honor role. But one of my favorite memories is jumping in my friend Debbie Newsome's mustang on a sunny spring day, and shooting out of that suburban school parking lot and into the city where she lived to experience another world without parental supervision, pressure to attend college, or any concerns of my specific kind.

Here's mine:

I had taken the SATs and my score sucked. It sucked so much that I won't even repeat it here. I'm embarrassed to tell my daughter, who's getting ready to take her SATs for the first time. . . Anyway, I'd applied to three colleges and really wanted to go to one, so I decided to retake the test, hopefully for a better score. I was sick that Saturday though, so I missed them. I called my number one choice college to tell them I would take them again the following month but the lady on the phone said, "Oh don't worry! You're already accepted. The letter will arrive later this week." I didn't have to take the SATs again AND I'd gotten into my first choice college. It was one of the highlights of my life!

I want so badly to post my prom picture, but I left it at home in Austin and can't get to it! I went to a small high school in Texas. When I was 15, I was asked to go to prom with this really nice boy that was pure country.

So I went out and bought my dress with my mother's help. It was a white gown with embroidered flowers that was covered in black lace. I thought it was beautiful at the time (I was going through an angsty stage). On me alone, it did look nice actually,

But when my pure country date showed up at my door, wearing black jeans, black boots and black hat with — not a regular tie, but one of those bolo ties (you know, the ones cattle barons wear)... well, we ended looking like the couple that had just fallen out of an Old West burlesque saloon. Yes my friends, I looked like a prostitute at my own prom.

So I really wish I had the picture to prove this, but it locked away in a trunk in Austin, never to be seen by any eyes ever again.

Omigosh, both these pictures are adorable!

Favorite high school memory, hmm... I don't know how to pick just one, because they sort of run together. It was the high school experience I loved, not any specific incident, you know? Dance team, newspaper staff, school dances, football games... Sigh. Some days you just wanna go back and do it all again.

(And some days you really, really don't.)

I'll say my favorite high school memory is Soccer Sundays. It's cheating, I know, because it's still more than one memory, but every Sunday my best buds and I would meet up at a local park and play soccer. All but 2 of us were awful, lol, but it didn't matter. We were hanging out and releasing energy. We usually chatted for a little while after we had worn each other out, too. Those Sundays were some of the best days of my life.

Your pictures are FABULOUS ... seriously love them!!!

My favorite memory is a homecoming dance I went to with a friend ... none of my friends knew I was going (for some reason, I kept it a secret) so I surprised them all. My friend, Rob, and I just had the best time that night!!!

It's so hard to choose a favorite memory from high school. I would have to say that one of my favorites was being in our school's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was my first real play and the beginning of many great friendships that I still have today.

My best high school memories are of me and my four best girlfriends who hung out together. We had so much fun hanging out, driving around, football and basketball games and I will admit some drinking! Those memories are hilarious and i am still friends with them today via FB as we live far apart. No high school boyfriend equals my good girlfriends although we did spend most of our time talking or crying over them!

Hmmm......this example of one of my happiest memories shows what a goody-goody I was in the beginning of highschool- I remember being in grade 9 and we had an English project to do that would count for 35% of our final grade. I worked on mine day and night (hello, no social life!) and got 100% on it. My teacher said that it was the only 100% that she had even given on this particular project and I was so darn proud!!!!

My proudest moment of highschool was actually accepting my graduation diploma less than three weeks after my son was born. When I found out that I was pregnant and 17, one of my biggest fears was that I would turn into a statistic- unable to graduate highschool and destined to become part of "the system". So, walking on to that stage and accepting my diploma with my mom, dad, and newborn son watching (and a University acceptance at home!) is something that I will always remember.

I was such a geek/dork in high school (still am!), so I wasn't popular, but I was friends with girls who were. That being said, my fave memory from high school was the night before senior year, when tradiiton had it that incoming seniors TP'd the school. Me and two other girls (two from the "popular group" mind you) participated, and were chased in the back field by a helicopter searchlight. I was wearing flip flops (because that's what we do out here in CA), and thus could barely run. The three of us were laughing so hard. Didn't get caught, either. Good times!

Mine is actually a prom memory. When I went to my senior prom it was the height of the swing dance craze that swept the US in the late 90's and my friends and I had really gotten into it. We took lessons, would go listen to my boy friends jazz band play and swing dance the night away. At prom my friend requested a swing song to be played and me and him tore up the dance floor with our swing dance moves. Everyone cleared the floor and watched us go as we danced our hearts out. I'm generally a very shy and quiet person to anyone that wasn't a close friend so for me this was a huge moment to show everyone in my senior class that I wasn't really the wallflower they had all assumed I was. It was fantastic.

OMG, you are too cute! :)

Fave high school memory? Trip to Mexico with my best friend and a big group of others to work in an orphanage. I still think of those days. xoxo

Your dresses were both adorable and show how your taste matured in just two years! I loved most of high school, so it's hard to think of one favorite memory, but it might be my first lesson in "it's who you know." I didn't make the cheer squad my first year but did my second year, and I think an accidental connection I made helped: The cheer captain's boyfriend's ex-girlfriend was dating my ex-boyfriend at the time of tryouts. Hope that makes sense... The captain did not like her and pulled me aside to tell me so. She also pulled aside the coach to have her watch me do my cheers and jumps before tryouts. Did that attention help?! I'll never know for sure, but I was grateful for the extra attention.

DAMNNNNN girl -- that guy is HOT
(I was 6'2" in the picture)

:-)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!

Guys, I do think that hs sweetie - self-complementary above - does deserve a round of applause for playing along today. Plenty of people would have balked at the first picture alone. :) Thank you, PJS!