dianaschnuth

I found this one intriguing; it’s about High School. So, I figured, WTF.

You’re a freshman. What year is it?
1990.

What were your three favorite bands?
I hadn’t been introduced to many new or good bands yet, as 107.9 WENZ (the Cleveland area’s alternative radio station) didn’t launch until around ’91 or ’92. I mainly still listened to Top 40, although I wanted to hear more about bands like Depeche Mode and The Cure. I was also known to jam out in the shower to my radio mixtape of C&C Music Factory and the like.

What was your favorite outfit?
Wasn’t really into clothes. Still had the leftover acid wash jeans of the 80’s.

What was up with your hair?
Well, my 5th- and 6th-grade Bangs Travesty™ was still growing out, so I wore a lot of headbands and ponytails. Most of my hair was still down to my waist or so, but practically the front half of my head was only down to my neck or shoulders. I felt really self-conscious about having my hair down.

Who were your best friends?
I had just moved back to the same school district I’d gone to 6th grade in, so I was kind of new, but kind of not. I had a group of people I ate lunch with, but not any really close friends. Leona Johnson was in choir and gym class with me, and was one year older than me, although she didn’t share my lunch period. Once I joined band in my Junior Year, Melody Marco was my bestest friend and we were dorky together.

What did you do after school?
Freshman year? Came home and watched TV. Read a Star Trek book. Sometimes there was a choir gig or a Latin Club meeting. It wasn’t until I got into band later on that I hung out after school all the time. Then, when we weren’t practicing for real, Mel and I would hang out in the cafeteria and jam. Really. Like:

Me: What key do you want today?
Mel: Concert B-flat, of course!
Me: *plays a spiffy rhythmic Bb > Eb > F > Bb backup riff on my alto sax or clarinet*
Mel: *improvises on her flute or sax for a good 20 measures or more before she joins in on my riff, signaling my turn to improv*

*rinse and repeat*

Where did you work?
There were a few kids I babysat on a semi-regular basis to get some spending money. I trifled with real jobs my Senior year, but I wasn’t ready for the workforce yet.

Did you take the bus?
Yup. School was six miles away, and it took me two hours to walk home if I didn’t have a ride. I only did that once, maybe twice, ever.

Who did you have a crush on?
Matt. Totally. Six-foot-four, red hair, smart (I first saw him in first period Advanced Biology), sang bass in choir, and played trumpet in band. *swoon*

Did you fight with your parents?
My mom and stepdad had just gotten divorced—well, separated, technically—and Mom was enjoying a bit of a mid-life crisis, I think. She played a lot of pool and had a few boyfriends. Neither of us are really arguers, but I think we came as close as we ever had by that point. She thought I needed to be more responsible. I felt the same about her, in a way, although I didn’t exactly understand it at the time.

Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?
I dunno… Cary Elwes? Maybe Brian Boitano, since I was really into watching Olympic figure-skating. Mmm, skater butt.

Did you smoke cigarettes?
Heck, no! I followed the Word of Wisdom like any good Mormon girl!

Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker?
Uh… no. Although I was known to almost forget my combination, since our lockers were the kind where you could keep your lock on the last number of your combo and it would stay unlocked. Once I got into band, Junior year, I never used my teeny normal locker again, and I *did* forget the combination, as my band locker was twice as big as a normal locker, and was down the band hallway with the people I wanted to socialize with, anyway.

Did you have a ‘clique’?
Not really. I was always hard-pressed to find anyone to fit in with. Every year, I only vaguely fit in with my lunch buddies, and only because only total losers sat alone at lunch. By the time I joined band (really, the highlight of my high school career), I had kind of an almost-clique. Especially Senior year, when I hung out with all the Freshmen, who were quite cool.

Did you have a “Max” like Zach, Kelly and Slater?
Uh… I’m a little rusty on my Saved By The Bell lingo. And, as mentioned before, I was a *loser* and didn’t have too many friends.

Admit it, were you popular?
See above.

Who did you want to be just like?
Michelle Dolivier. She didn’t go to my school—she went to my church, and was a year or two older than me. She introduced me to Depeche Mode and The Dead Milkmen, and she had the most righteous skater ‘do. She was the most ultra-cool Mormon girl I thought there could ever be, because she taught me how to dance to Progressive Alternative music, as we called it back then (Cure, DM, etc), and tried swapping her skirt for some dude’s pants at a church dance. The guy was cool with it, but the churchin’ folks in charge made them switch back.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Didn’t know until after Freshman year, when I took voice lessons during the summer. I told my aunt, as she drove me home one day, that I really enjoyed singing and music, and we had a discussion which concluded in her telling me that I should pursue what I enjoy, and worry about making a living with it later.

Damn you, Aunt Sammie. (Just kidding, really— I enjoyed my high school years of being a music dork, and only really hated my one year of music major-ness in college. After which I had a major identity crisis.)