Prep school memories

Yesterday I got my annual high school "communique"-- a publication that provides annual updates about what our graduating classmates are up to these days. I went to a small, all- girls prep school for 12 years (hey! stop that! I know what you're thinking!), with forest green uniforms and a martian for a school mascot (don't ask).

Sometimes when I look back at those years all I can remember are heavy workloads, academic pressure to succeed at all costs, and unholy competitiveness between us girls from everything ranging to boys, grades, weight, sports, and where you got into college. I sometimes wonder about how badly I missed out on a "true" high school experience and question my parents' wisdom in sending me there. Plus, it would have been nice to have gone to school with at least one other Latina.

But after reading my classmates' updates-- so many of I knew for the entire length of my K-12 education- I could only admire how far we all had come. Many of us have excelled in our chosen fields (from fashion designers to doctors to authors to street- pounding journalists), broken away from our high school molds and used our respective skills to become the best possible versions of ourselves.

It's possible that this array of 30 - year- old women would have been as successful as they are even if we had not all attended this one particular school. But when reading about all the fascinating things my classmates have been up to this year, I felt a sense of comfort in knowing that I shared the most formative years of my life with these women. I'm glad that the network of our alums retains a palpable sense of vibrancy, and that after so many years, these women are the closest thing to my extended American family.

Lesson Learned: Never underestimate the ties that bind people who've known each other since first grade, through puberty, and into adulthood.

Submitted by: Claudia