Happy Birthday To You

[Gustav 6,415]

Yes, you! Stand still laddie!

 

Last year, the VHL celebrated its 13th birthday--and instead of a boring "post in this thread" thing like we have this year, we had something that was interesting to read through. To claim TPE, you had to post in the thread with a story about a memory you had from when you were 13 years old. There were funny stories, sad stories, interesting stories, and all in all it was cool to sort through and see what people had done in their lives. Here's the thread for anyone who wasn't around and is interested.

 

For that reason, my article this week will be a blurb about 14-year-old me. That was the year the VHL turned 7, and it was also the year I started high school...and though I can't think of anything from that year that particularly jumps out to me, looking back on it I'd say that that year influenced a good part of my life in a significant way.

 

As many people may be able to interpret from online me, I wasn't exactly one of the cool kids. And being not widely popular, not picking any of my classes and being placed into things randomly wasn't very fun for me as most people I had classes with either didn't know me or didn't care. Which is probably the source of many "band nerd" stereotypes, as band was the only thing I chose to be a part of, and it was the one place where I was guaranteed to have a friend group. 

 

This became a big part of my life over high school because of that--it went from something I did because I felt like quitting would be wrong in middle school to something I genuinely enjoyed, getting involved in events and going beyond just coming to class. The next year, I'd joined jazz band, and by the end of high school I'd taken two years of music theory. Music is something I even keep up with in college as a hobby, and it's one that I'd probably have zero interest in if it weren't for freshman year going the way it did.

 

So, there's my response to this year's nonexistent question. What's yours?