how did YOU survive highschool?

[OM3GA-Z3RO]

I wasn't popular nor unpopular, I was just considered: "That Guy" everyone knew me in High school and if I had a problem with a tough guy, a tougher guy will come and have my back, I was welcomed in any group in High School so I was always in between. Only thing that sucked was that I was never invited into parties so that was the only downside to being: "That Guy" overall I liked my position in the High school Hierarchy, "Not too popular, Not too unpopular, just right." so everyone had my back.

 

[captainproton]

Honestly, high school was better for me than middle school and even some of elementary. For one, this one girl had moved away. She was truly awful to everyone; one of those Queen Bee Mean Girls who went out of her way to make everyone miserable. Near the end of eighth grade, though, one of her posse decided she'd had enough and told her off while we were on a class trip to an amusement park. The rest of her group went with the dissenter they they all abandoned the Queen Bee, leaving her to find her own way back to the bus. She moved away that summer. Yes, there were still awful people, but the Evil One had been banished.

For another, my circle of friends grew, and began to include actual friends. I'd had people I called friends, but many of them were just sort of there. There wasn't any real connection. But then I met some new students and we really hit it off. We were really friends. We helped each other, supported each other, and always had each other's backs. I realized later that some of the people I hung around with before didn't actually care all that much.

it helped, though, that my friends and I were those kids everyone else is a little afraid of. Not that we were bullies--absolutely not. We were the goths, the metalheads, the kids in the back corner of the parking lot in black coats and big boots and bookcovers decorated in anime stickers and Tolkien runes. That's not to say we were delinquents. Most of us were members of the art club and the quiz bowl team, and only some of us got high after school (I didn't, btw). But we were a little intimidating to the country club kids, and we tended to step in whenever we saw someone getting picked on. (After seeing him pick on a kid on the bus, one girl I knew flipped a guy twice her size over her shoulder and stood on his head until he apologized.) Thanks to them making me feel like I was worth it, I even had the confidence to defend myself when I got picked on.

I was still incredibly shy, and to this day, I hate talking to large groups, but I at least learned how to relate to another person. I learned that there wasn't any shame in being poor or heavy or different. In retrospect, I realized i'd been dealing with depression since I was about nine or ten, and i still have low days. But I keep going, and I'm thankful to those friends for helping me discover the strength I had inside.

 

[AvarinaSkye]

It was a hard start for me in high school because prior to that, I transferred to the middle school nearby in that city. It was hard to make friends when 1) I was angry about the move 2) I went from a small class of 25 in Catholic school to a whooping 250 at a public middle school, and 3) my new school ran on some cliche group system, so I didn't really fit anywhere (really nerdy or too cool for my taste). With that said, the first year of high school was when I was by myself (without my younger sister who I hung out most of the time in middle school), and it was hell. I knew people, but I didn't like hanging out with them because they weren't interesting to me. I ate lunch by myself, and just sat on the brick planters until it was time to go. I was able to use that time to draw and write stories, and I also had a friend online that I had been friends with before the move, however, that need for physical attention and talking to someone was big on me. I believed I cried sometimes on and off campus because of the loneliness dawning on me.

It did get better though. It took some time realizing that you can't find the perfect people, and you just have to do with who you're with. I've had weird things going on Soph and Junior year, and it wasn't the best. Still, I was able to find friends who loved to game, use the internet, draw, you name it. By Senior year, one of my mutual friends got me and this guy to be friends, and now we're together, living on our own. All in all, it just gets better with time, first of all, changing your attitude about the situation and enjoying your time in high school.

 

[Caitlin]

(=o.o=)~ I didn't say much, ate by myself and pretty much blended into the background.  Of course, the high school I graduated from, the people sort of knew what sort of person I was, because when they had a little newsletter about what they thought certain people would be in five years and they got me down to a T, only without me actually doing it.  I moved around quite a bit when I was younger and sadly, I sort of gave up on making friends in school.  Blended in to the background, but then again, I am a girl, so that worked for me.  I hear that going to high school is quite different than being a girl in high school.  I can only say what I heard from my brother, so I don't know.  High school is the worst, I wish I could relive it so I could do things all over again, but you only get a single shot that at nightmare. 

UPDATE: Blended into the background, no wonder I can't get people to freaking notice me... I have had no practice at that art.  Hmm, must practice more. 

Actually, I was this way, because of middle school.  You see, I had a diary that had a popular character as the character I was writing to and I lost my diary. Two girls found it and teased me for months because of it.  I withdrew and I was never the same again.  I stopped expressing myself and never told anyone about it.  I was weird so I survived high school, because no one knew how weird or an oddball that I was.  I didn't know myself really, because I was rather on the poor side and felt ugly and stupid.  I have learned that I lean more goth as I love those types of clothes, very independent and a really nerdy sense of humor, with logic, intelligence and love art.  I have always had a problem connecting to people.  I guess I would want to tell that young teenager that things are not as bad as you think that they are and who gives a darn what other people think as long as your true friends care deeply about you as well, as your family. 

I guess I just realized that I was bullied, but I didn't realize it at the time.  I didn't care, after middle school for some odd reason. I didn't have close friends in high school, either, though.

 

[cane_danko]

well it was pretty easy for me cuz in 9th grade a guy sucker punched me who was bigger than me and i beat him up in the middle of class and well everyone tends  to be nice to you after that... i got suspended for 10 days though now i hear they jail you for that even if its self defense... glad i'm out of school

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Luck?

I wasn't well liked, but I had a nice group of friends. Of course, now in our late 20s I live in another state, as does another, so yup.

I was a slacker (depression=didn't care), until the last year. Still didn't care, but I managed to graduate on time. Only child in my family to do so. XD

((My bros are younger and can get jobs easily, so why can't I get even one..?))

 

[arekpowalan]

I had problems with bullies too, but I realized I was one of the weirder characters in my school. I wasn't handsome by any mean, my temper was so quick I threw a few tantrums here and there, yet I was patient enough to sit still in one place for a whole hour or two waiting for a morning roll call. I was also rather anti-social and I tended to spend more times on video games and drawing. Some of the teachers were also really bad, throwing insults to everybody in my class for little reasons. My dad told me to ignore them. I did so, in a very bumpy fashion.

Bullies and teachers aside, high school wasn't that bad, I was deligent enough to read ahead and do homeworks by myself, and I was pretty good on the grades. I did really well in English so I took the major that prioritizes foreign languages. Math was required for graduating, but I was horrible at it, so I was required to take extra classes on weekends.

In the end, highschool wasn't that great or terrible for me, just a mediocre experience I want to forget, but honestly can't because it keeps haunting me in my recurring dreams.

 

[Gradian]

Highschool for me was pretty okay with the usual ups and downs. Though I was known as the socially awkward weird kid who draws a lot. I tend to do things on my own in my own way and I had the tendency to not pay attention to a lot of things unless it concerns me. Bullies (according to my friend) had tried to target me but apparently I was either really blur to their attacks that they gave up on me, more they were scared by my scary face and actions. Friends say I tend to show a scary/angry face even when I was in a positive mood, aaand there's also the tendency to break things when angered or threaten physical harm (depending on the situation, i may be serious or not). Some bullies tried to make rumors of me but either I accepted them casually (nothing wrong with accepting facts that are true lol) or the usual, really blur to their attacks. I was a difficult target, but not without the effort of avoiding drama/trouble when i can notice it, and possibly that being a very friendly(still socially awkward at times) person (when not pissed) I made a lot of friends especially with honor students, friends of bullies and prefects (more of being friendly over interests than grades). Ironically my close friends were victims of bullying themselves right until graduation. Some still suffer these bad attentions in university.

The most common problem I faced(and still do) was grades troubles as I was a really really lazy kid who'd ask to copy your homework right before the class starts. Unless it's a subject I really like, it's expected to see some Ds or Fs for the less favoured subjects. I got used to failing a lot. Some teachers like to pick on me and I get scolded often by my mom for my poor academic performance, even dating back to elementary school. I couldn't really care too much as long as I got a passing grade (if it's subjects I dont bother with).

University's sorta the same with friendship and such but...the academic and financial struggles' another thing though. It's much easier to breakdown in university than highschool. I regretted having the carefree attitude towards failing.

 

[hian]

Had no real social issues in high school, It was a nice place - had my basic group of friends, met my first girlfriend, got mostly good grades, and had a lot fun in general just goofing around.

That being said, I've always "hated" school though, all the way back since first grade elementary school - but that's just because I find it extremely boring.

In elemetary school I was given permission to read books in class because I'd finish stuff long before everyone else, and would usually get really chatty and annoying at that point, disturbing the other kids. Maybe that gives people kind of an idea of what I'm like in general.

I like recess though, and I enjoy hanging out with people, just talking, so school was good for that at least.

Never felt as if I had to survive school though. I'm generally too detached to get bothered by other people. If they're nice, that's nice. If they're not, I'll just shut them  down, and off.

Point is, I socialize on my own terms, or not at all - which means that I am always pretty satisfied. I don't need validation or attention from people I don't consider to be valuable in my life, which would be pretty 99.99~% of the human race, so I am completely free to pursue my own life and social relationships as I see fit, in the way I see fit - and that has been invaluable to me throughout me entire life, regardless of place or setting.

 

[Another Ned]

Thinking back, I had more problems with school work itself than social issues.

Not that I didn't have social issues. It's just that I was able to not care and ignore them most of the time. Though some of them had lasting effects. At the beginning, I was considered detrimental to one's social standing, for example.

But well, if you're 11 years old, and don't care about popular movies (I loved watching martial arts movies), popular music (I started listening to Queen, and then to metal that year), or fashion (I pretty much cross-dressed until I was 16, at an all girls school of all places) or you don't even try your best to fit in so that others feel comfortable around you, some people do think you're noone to spend time with. Thankfully, I really didn't care much, having been a super-ignorant teenager and all. Haha, thinking back, I really didn't do anything to improve my social standing at all, rather waited for everyone else to "catch up" with me and accept me for the chaotic thing I was. And some people even did. We weren't friends, but got along (note: I spent 9 years at the same school, and classes were shuffled about every two years; so people got more time to get used to me).

With bullies I haven't had much interaction. I do remember that there were times when people tried to pick on me, but I simply acted oblivious to it and was downright friendly to them. Put them off-balance so much that they never tried again.

But even when I had a phase of making up stuff and acting as if it were true (because I could and people's reactions were funny; was around 14 that time) noone ever dared telling me to the face that I was, in fact, spouting nonesense. All I ever got was an anonymous note someone left on my table one day. I'm suddenly very glad I didn't have access to the internet back then.
And some people even seemed to be intimidated by me (even nowadays). I'm still not sure why.

Back to my true problem back in school: School work. Nobody ever told me what it was good for. I went to a higher school than my mother and her (now ex-)husband back then, so I never got any help for homework at home. I seldom did my homework anyways (became quite creative with lazy excuses). I never really paid attention in class if it wasn't of interest to me and seeing that I never really studied before tests, it's a miracle I even got mediocre grades. The 10th grade I almost had to repeat and even thought about dropping out for good, but I was lucky that my school actually cared about people and one of my teachers had a talk with my mom and me before it was too late.
12th and 13th grades was the time I at least got my school work problem solved. Became smarter with not doing homework, even began studying for tests. Called my system "tactical laziness". Example: 5th to 10th grade, average grades were around C-D, with the occasional E and F in English and some other subjects. At the end of 13th grade I graduated with an average grade of B for two school years, with English being my strongest subject (almost all As from second half of 12th grade on).

 

[Dimitris]

Junior high and high school were very easy. I went around my business and made a few friends who had the same interests with me (15 years later I still have most of them in my life).

Elementary school though was a very different situation. From second to sixth grade I had the worst time of my life. Second grade I moved to my fathers town and because I was an outsider I was picked on, laughed at and bullied by the other kids. Believe it or not, that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that from fourth to sixth grade I had a "teacher" that everytime we made a mistake on lessons he would hit us. Hard slaps in the face and he would ridicule us in front of the class (he did that to me and other kids). I remember a girl, she was so stressed out that every time that "teacher" asked her something, she would throw up from fear. Constant terror for 3 years. I am speaking about a "teacher" that he hated his job and he told us. He told us that he wanted to become a footballer but his father did not let him and that's why he became a teacher!!!

Through all of this, the things I gained was that I started thinking for myself, not following what the other kids did or liked and learned how to have fun by myself. I also learned to give my trust and attention to those who deserve it. 

 

[Rumanshi]

I haven't yet

 

[SonicToTheLimit]

I'm in high school and I love it.... kinda.

Its all too nice, no one says mean things to anyone really so i don't get an opportunity to beat someone up.

I did get nudged after a class today so I got to slam him against a wall. yay.

 

[Indrah]

I didn't really get picked on as far as I remember. People mostly didn't care about me much, I think, despite the fact I was actually really afraid they'd hate me or some ****. Typical kinda weird, doesn't fit body issues isolated fatso.

Then started skipping class and going home to be in the internet a lot, repeated a grade, had a meltdown, got back up, changed subjects from technologies to humanities (hah, who remembers when you had no idea what to choose? I do) had one nice grade, then loosened up at the end of the next in the next and had to repeat again, which I skipped entirely and only went to like 3 classes or not even that (coz skipping is easy and Indrah is lazy).

I remember vaguely being alone and miserable for a good chunk of it, specially the first 3 years and being specially ****ty on the meltdown during the 5th, but not having any real conflict with others. I had fun at a couple years when I managed to pin down a friend that would last and some that would not.

Heck, when my class at one time did a "nicknames for everyone by everyone" that came off as really offensive, mine came off so tame it was almost a joke, like "oh I forgot that girl exists. What's her name again? "Sea"? Nickname her "Wave" or some ****, who cares". While others got "Rathair" "Bomb" (she was fat and short) and so on.

I guess I was somewhat lucky, but I would definitely not repeat the experience. Heck I don't remember most of it. I remember being "friendly" (well, the "I hand around you" classmate equivalent) with rather odd people at some point, like the classroom uber-loud bossy girl and her flunkie. How did that even happen I don't remember.

Unsure how grades go in other countries, but instead of the 4 obligatory and 2 optional years, I did a total 4 optional years, so 8 total. Woop for skipping and not studying, ever. Jeezus that period was a mess.

I SUSPECT at points I may have been mocked/ignored/disliked by some cliques, but I was honestly too dumb to notice. (Or maybe I'm beign paranoid, who the Frick knows).

Then I may have been slightly intimidating in a low-grade surly way XD One of my friends from that time says the first time she talked to me I turned to her with angryface and was all like "dafuk u want". Who knows, maybe I looked like a baddass? Hah, I wish, more like an hermit weirdo.

I don't remember my highschool having intense bullying. Low grade nagging and friction I guess, but not much.

One of my most pathetically proudest moments at the time was when, at 15 or so, in 1st or 2nd year, one of the guys in the "tough guys" (maybe) clique came along and grabbed the pastry I was holding and was all like "Hand it over" and I was like just "No". And he sorta just looked at me for a moment and then let go and left. And inside I was really proud I had not flinched, but more importantly was thinking ***** THAT'S MY CHOCO AND CREAM PASTRY, GET YER PAWS OFF XD And then I ate my slightly squashed pastry and felt all bossy OTL

So yeah, food above intimidation of a single, not bigger than myself guy who's not really being threatening. So proud XD What he was trying to do is honestly beyond me. I hadn't even interacted with the dude ever either, so no idea.

And there's a slew of negative memories too, but I refuse to bring those up, I don't want to feel humiliated in my head thanks~

God look at this wall of rant. I'm out OTL

 

[Dalph]

How did I survive Highschool? WARNING. I'll rant here:

Spoiler

I'll start saying that I hate school with passion but this doesn't mean that I never studied, I was a very good student till 14y old or so. I hated my schools because they were overall badly organized, a lot of my classmates were annoying as hell and some teachers just didn't care at all about bullism and they were also cruel by picking up favourites in the classes. They started annoying me during High School so at 14y old, I was shy, kind, totally overweight and extremely short for my age, so some of the guys there started to make fun of my appearance saying cruel things like "Fat Smurf". There was also this horrible italian teacher, she was a real b**** and hated me for no reason, plus my math teacher was totally insane (giving us 100-150 exercises to complete for the day after) and despite clearly having a brain problem she was still allowed to work there. I survived the first 2 years in some way, holding grudges and becoming a being full of hate, but despite this I still managed to gain a few good friends there. I was becoming a totally different person due to these horrible people, they made me hate school so I wasn't happy to go there and I didn't want to study anymore. Around 15-16y old my body started to change (puberty was coming) and I was changing inside too, I wasn't the chubby and shy guy anymore, I became blunt and harsh, I suddenly started to gain a lot of height (that made me a lot slimmer), the girls started to notice me and that made me a lot more confident about my appearance. That huge boost of confidence totally turned me into an extrovert, I started to socialize more and the bullies stopped annoying me. I did the huge mistake of never talking with my parents about this, I talked with a few of my trusted classmates instead, and together we created a small group (we were 3 guys) to prevent bullism in our class.
Things were working well but after a while we started having a lot of troubles, some of the bullies of my class started telling everything to their parents, saying that we were cruel and that we were humiliating them for no reason so we were forced to stop what we were doing. At some point I realized that I was totally becoming like them (probably even worse) and I didn't want that, even if they were cruel and heartless, nobody deserves to be treated like that. Before stopping, we (me and my 2 friends) FINALLY talked about this situation with our parents and they all agreed to talk with the teachers and the principal to resolve this situation in that cursed class.Although everything stopped and things were starting to become better in my class (a few guys were badly punished for what they did), it was too late for me so I decided to quit school the year after. I just didn't care anymore about it, I lost faith in the whole system, the one in my school was crappy and badly put together and I was too demotivated to change school and start everything again.
Despite dropping school at 17y old I still managed to get a house thanks to my parents (it's old but I don't pay a rent) and a decent job.

I'm not implying that you have to drop school here, quite the opposite in fact, I was just being unlucky, not all the schools are bad and not all the classes are full of bullies. Do your best to continue because that's your future and ffs don't appear as shy, if they see you being shy they will bully you for sure (because you will appear weak to their eyes).

 

[Celianna]

My high school was from age 12 till 16. It was alright. I had a pretty mean girl in my class who would actually 'organize' times to start cussing people out (she'd literally sit at the table and say "Who will I insult today?"). That period of time I was the brunt of it sometimes. It improved in our final year when even our teachers got sick of it, and they mellowed out.


My further education after high school was a lot better. People were still all awkward teenagers, but since the class sizes kept going down each year, in the end we had 14 people in our class and we got along very well. No bullying whatsoever.


Now my middle school years, two of those were spent being bullied. But it had a happy end, I made my prime bully cry (through words, not violence) and we became sorta friends afterwards. It helps to know that the reason people bully, is because of their own insecurities and problems. In my case, I got bullied because my bully's sister would hit her at home, and this was her way of gaining back some power. My own sister beat me up almost every day because at school she was bullied because of her weight. Usually, bullies are also being abused.


Of course, the best part is not being in school anymore, and being an adult who can choose whether or not to drop a toxic person from their life. I've grown up to be very assertive, will call you out on your BS, and will stand up for people that I care about.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Being smarter and wittier than anyone who tried to torment me, and having very large friends.

I was a tiny tiny kid in high school (I started high school at 4'11" 108lbs. (1.5m, 49kg)), I wore glasses, I was in all the advanced classes, and I was into super nerdy hobbies (I was into gaming and roleplaying), and participated in our chess club and our chorus. All the normal non-macho traits that get bashed by the stereotypical bully.

But the thing I found out really fast is that verbal bullies don't like being made fun of, and if you have the ability to make clever jokes quickly at their expense in response, and cause people to laugh at them, they generally back off pretty quickly.

I also avoided any physical altercation from having two friends who were in the 6'2-4" range (as high school freshmen), who both had a good bit of bulk.

But mostly, people tended to like me. I was a nice person, I helped people with their school work (when I dropped out in my junior year (for nonacademic reasons), everyone in my Trig class that sat around me had their grade drop), I was a part of our drum line, which is the part of the band that is universally considered pretty cool. And hey, being one of the best singers in chorus is actually something that makes you fairly popular with girls (though by the time people realized I had a good voice, I was already in a relationship that would last the rest of my school years (and I suppose a bit longer, considering we are still married)).

 

[Celianna]

(I started high school at 4'11" 108lbs. (1.27m, 49kg))

Sorry, I laughed, I imagined you as an 8 year old boy. 127cm is 4'1"

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Sorry, I laughed, I imagined you as an 8 year old boy. 127cm is 4'1"

... I knew that sounded wrong, I should have done the math myself instead of putting it in google. I must have missed the second 1 in the 11.

 

[EternalShadow]

I didn't, I don't think. I mean, I did get through it and finished it, but I do have a lot of bad memories. Teaching is on a personal blacklist of jobs, though things got significantly better socially in the last two or three years of school.

It doesn't really help that the uk government interfered with schools a lot over the last few years, so education as a whole became a bit of a mess. Thankfully, I was out of it by then.

I suppose I "survived" by reading and writing a lot. Really, it was just a pretty depressing waiting game, looking back on it. Long story.