From Middle School on, my least favorite subjects were Math and PE. PE I think was a combination of not liking my teachers plus the other bad experiences I talked about earlier. Math I'm pretty sure I used to like, and I guess I'm pretty good at it, but I do not enjoy it one bit. I always had to memorize the rules and formulas because the reasons for them didn't make sense, and I can't look at numbers and do them in my head. I didn't like some of my math teachers, not until I had Mr. Schlekeway and Mr. Saari. They both brought humor into math and catered their classes to fit their students instead of the other way around. They made math less of a headache and helped me push through and pass.
Who were some of your friends in school? What were they like? What are they doing today?
It's funny that this question should come up; I was just flipping through my journal from Senior year, and I wrote out two entries, one about all my friends in Pit, the other all my friends that graduated the same year as me.
My closest friends in High School were Megan Filippello, Brett Matheson, Tori Roberts, Kiersten Hopkins, Elizabeth Mo, Hannah Booth, Maddy Cicotte, Josh Tingey, Katie Pattillo, Billy Eshlemen, Brendan Rexus, and I'm sure a few others I'm blanking on right now.
Megan and I became friends my Sophmore year. She joined Marching Band and was in my English class, and we bonded quickly. Megan is quiet when you first meet her, but after a while we would bake together and we'd go back and forth talking for 20 minutes at a time. We shared a love of Jane Austen, romcoms, baking, BBC, writing lyrics, and general musical nerdiness. When I realized that we had gone to the same schools for like 3 years I wondered how we hadn't been friends before! Right now Megan is going to Walla Walla University, a Seventh Day Adventist college an hour away, and is working in the Marketing department of a hospital. Megan is really good a business and interpersonal communications. She was always the one mediating drama between friends, listening to boyfriend drama, and giving everyone advice, and I'm sure she still does. She was our Mother Hen. Her mom did my hair on my wedding day for free, which was awesome, and Megan, Brenna and Tori threw me a friend bridal shower before my wedding.
Brett and I were friends from when I was in 2nd Grade on. We became friends when we moved to our house on Quinault; that summer we rode bikes every day, usually playing Cops and Robbers, with Cameron tagging along. One time we were going down someone's driveway and Brett scraped their truck with his handles. Me and Cameron were so scared the guy was going to yell at us that we rode home and fast as we could. We left poor Brett to ride it out on his own, haha. Brett was, and probably still is, the kind of guy that somehow makes friends with everyone. I would always get mad when we would go to a dance or to Dairy Queen to hang out and he would make friends with everyone else there and end up not talking to me at all. But that's probably why we were friends too. We're both super nerdy and love Brandon Sanderson books, both total band geeks, and have pretty similar personalities. Everyone always asked if we were dating, but we were more like cousins or siblings - I'm fairly certain that if we ever got married we would have killed each other; we're way too similar and both way too stubborn! Brett just got back from his mission in November and is going to BYUI; I moved back to Kennewick the same week he gave his homecoming talk, which was so cool. It was awesome to see such an awesome person and friend turn into an even more awesome person. I'm very curious to see where he ends up in life, because that kid is going places.
I met Tori in 4th grade when we were in Marimba Band together. I don't remember doing a ton with her until that summer, when she invited me to her birthday party in July. In fifth grade, when I felt like I didn't have many friends, Tori would always let me hang out with her and sometimes Alexandria, although I could tell she didn't like me as much as Tori did. In middle school we didn't do a whole lot together, but then in High School when we both did Marching Band, Tori and I became a lot closer. She and Megan were really good friends, so when we all were friends we started doing stuff together. The day Tori was able to drive other people we all piled in her little Toyota truck and went to 7-11 for Slurpees. Tori is also the worst driver I know. Besides that, she is also so kind, passionate beyond anything I've seen, and really smart. I did a marimba trio with her and Garrett Dunn, who she was dating at the time, and we made it to State Solo & Ensemble competition, and even got 3rd place in the whole state! Tori is a friend that you can not see for a few months, or even years, and the minute you see her again it's not awkward at all.
Kiersten Hopkins and I became friends right after both of us moved her. We were probably between 6 and 8. Both of us are really musical, and our personalities mesh really well too. Kiersten is someone who wants so bad to honestly be as good as possible. A lot of people desire goodness and seek it out, but Kiersten excels. We started doing more stuff together in middle school and high school, and she was always so upbeat and fun to be around. We did a little book club for a while where we would read a book and then watch it's movie and compare the two, and that was so much fun. She loves Jane Austen too. Sometimes Kiersten and I would get a little competitive when we were both auditioning for Concert Master or playing in competitions or piano stuff or leading in marching band or pit. The worst was when I was going between being a drum major while also being Pit section leader, and Kiersten was my co-section leader. We had some disagreements and it got really awkward. Right now Kiersten is on a mission in Ohio, and I'm sure she's doing fantastic! She was going to BYU Provo in the Choir Education and Performance school, and I'm confident she'll graduate from that and go on to do incredible things.
Elizabeth Mo was one of the best confidants I had in high school. I met her when she moved into Kamiakin my Sophomore year, and she was the Cello section leader as a freshman. At first she seemed like just your typical nerdy, quiet music geeks, but as I got to know her more and do things with her, we became really close and I confided in her a lot, my senior year especially. I felt like I could be 100% honest with Liz and she wouldn't judge me or look at me like I was crazy, she'd just sympathize and give advice as much as she could. Elizabeth is also one of the hardest workers I've ever met. She would work herself to death, but it sure paid off well! She's going to school in California at Stanford University.
Hannah Booth moved to Kennewick when we were I think in either 6th or 7th grade from Georgia. She's a dancer, a trumpet player, and one of the smartest people I have ever met. On top of that, she's also so kind and just loves everyone. Hannah has this ability to make people just be happy, as well as a crazy side that can get a little wild sometimes but is still so much fun. I did a lot of stuff with her, Tori, and Megan, and we went to Prom in the same group both years. Hannah was always there when I had boy drama, or just other drama, and would talk me through it and made me feel like I wasn't just a crazy person. When my first boyfriend broke up with me, Hannah made me a CD called, "BOYS SUCK!". It's still one of my favorite CD's I've ever owned. After Jasmine was born, she had Tori, Megan and me over for brunch, and it was so nice to have a little sense of normalcy and some familiar friends there in a time in my life when I felt so chaotic and abnormal. Right now Hannah is going to Washington State University and, knowing her, will probably find the cure to cancer someday.
Maddy Cicotte is one of those friends that I wish I had found earlier in my life. I knew who she was and stuff before, but my Junior and Senior year when she joined marching band I grew to absolutely love her! Maddy is the most passionate person I have ever met in my whole life, and she throws that passion into everything she does! There was also a running joke that you could make Maddy cry with almost anything, but I can't use it against her now that I cry at everything too, haha. Maddy also gives the most thoughtful gifts in the whole world, sometimes just for no reason, and will plan them sometimes for months on end. Probably my favorite memories with Maddy come from Stats class, where we sat next to each other every day, and The Notebook - a journal we passed back and forth when both of us were having break-ups. We went through similar experiences at similar times, which I see as a blessing. It was so, so helpful to have someone there with me that was feeling the same, or at least similar, things as what I was feeling. We were very close, and I hope in the future to reconnect with Maddy. Right now she's on a mission in Bolivia, and her emails are hilarious. She is so real and raw, and it's refreshing to hear that.
Josh Tingey and I were in the same ward ever since we moved to the Tri Cities. I took piano lessons from his mom for quite a few years, but we didn't start doing things together until high school. He was between Cameron and I in age, so we did a lot with all three of us, or in a group. As with most of my friends, we did the most through Band or church. My senior year was when I felt like we became really good friends, and he would hang out with me and Megan and Hannah on band trips. When my dad was in the hospital, Josh was there to talk to and helped me work through it. He was also our home teacher with his dad for a few years and that was really fun.
I knew Katie from I think the week we moved here until even now. I remember we had the same purple and blue velvet dress when we were 7 years old. I always got along really well with Katie because she's just so nice and laid back! She also played the viola and was in Color Guard in the marching band, so we spent a lot of time together. This is a really random thing to remember, but one time I went to her house and they asked if I wanted to stay for dinner. When I asked what they were having, they said, "Spaghetti Tacos". They literally put spaghetti in hard taco shells. While it wasn't the worst thing I've eaten, it may have been the weirdest. Katie also taught me to play the harp for a few months as part of her Senior Project. I wasn't the best student, but I had a lot of fun! Katie and I still go to the temple every week or so now that she's back from her mission to the Philippines.
I could probably write about a million other people; I had really great friends all through high school. But if I tried to do that I would never ever finish, so I'm going to leave off there.
