Waiting for My New Life to Begin (Prompt #2)

By Steve Gallup

Yes.  I was a little nerdy in middle school.  

I tried to hide it a little.  But it came to me so easily.  

I had no qualms about dissecting a frog.

I created a report on the unusual properties of arcs and tangents for my geometry teacher.  I don't think she even asked for it.

In Algebra 1, I understood quadratic equations right off the bat.  Everyone else seemed so confused.  Except for one other student.  She and I could do the quadratic equations in our heads, most of the time.  It just seemed... simple.

I always got good grades.  I was polite.  I raised my hand.  I usually knew the answers.

I tried not to be the teacher's pet.  To be known as the favorite could make you a pariah.

But when you know things, it can also make you useful.  Sometimes, when other students realized that I knew how to solve math problems, they asked me for help.  I tried to keep that sort of activity on the down-low.  I would help.  Of course... I would help them; but I did so quietly... unobtrusively; like a POW with a plan for escape... keeping the conversations hush-hush and secretive.

"So you add the numbers here, and you multiply the numbers there.  Shhh.  I'll explain it later."

I also took up soccer; and I played for junior varsity.  I tried not to be so nerdy.  

But I also played in the band.  I played the flute.

When I went to high school (which started with 10th grade, back then), I dropped the flute and joined the percussion.  Our percussion section created a cadence to play when the band was on the move, between songs.  I still remember that cadence today.  Dum dum dum. Dumbidum dumbidum dum.  Dum dum dum.  Dumbidum dumbidum dum....  

That seemed pretty cool.  I felt a little less like a nerd in marching band.  (Sidenote: I had never played the drums.  So when I switched instruments, I was put on cymbals; which meant that half the time I was holding the cymbals for one of the drummers to play.  The other half of the time I was counting measures and rests like my life depended on it; because if you clap the cymbals on the wrong beat, pretty much the whole band knows you blew it.)

But I digress.

In 10th grade, I think I took the following classes: Biology, Algebra 2, AP English, Latin, Typing, Computer Science, and Marching Band.

In AP English we learned about the different writing formats:  Narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and expository.  I learned a lot.  More than just big words; although my habit of flipping open Grandpa's Merriam Webster to random tabs, was still paying off.

In Latin we learned to conjugate verbs.  Amo, Amas, Amat... Amamus, Amatis, Amant.  And we learned Latin puns: Semper ubi sub ubi (Always where under where).   I think I took it because I had heard that it might be useful to learn Latin and Greek roots, for various branches of science.

I took typing, because it seemed like it could come in handy for the computer.  I had gotten a home computer when they first entered the market.  I got it for Christmas.  I don't know what brand it was.  Probably an Apple.  I learned Basic pretty quickly.  You could create pictures on the screen by coding where to put a letter, or letters, line by line.  On the computers at school, I created bigger and better pictures.  I guess I learned a little programming too.  

I remember that there was a primitive lunar module landing game, on the computer at high school.  You tried to slow the rate of descent just right, so that the module landed gently.  I think you had to tap on the arrow keys to do it.  If you didn't control the module just right, you either cratered badly, or your module flew back off into the void of space.  I didn't know it, but I was getting ready for a whole wave of arcade computer games that were about to usher in a golden age of coin-operated, joystick controlled, dopamine fueled activity at the mall.

Biology was my favorite class. My teacher was Mr. Braddy.  (That's not a typo.  He spelled his name Braddy, even though it was pronounced like Brady.)  He was a good teacher; patient and bright.

We learned how to create a dichotomous table to classify a bunch of mythical beasts, which was fun; but we also learned how to use a dichotomous table to identify a tree from it's twigs and other physical characteristics, even in winter.

We learned about Taxonomy and Binomial Nomenclature.  We learned about Kingdoms and Phyla.  We learned about Protozoa.  The Euglena was always my favorite.  Still is.  I used to have a small or medium yellow T-shirt (I was awkward and skinny back then) with a picture of the elegant Euglena screen-printed on the front.  It was very, very nerdy.  I had a talent for learning about weird creatures, and for memorizing odd facts.  (Sidenote: It really paid off in college when I took Invertebrate Zoology; the most difficult course of my major; the one that weeded out the A's from the B's.)

We learned about Botany; about xylem and phloem;  about plant reproduction.  We even went on field trips.  Once we went to a forested area in early Spring to see the emergence of the Spring ephemerals on the forest floor (before the leaves emerged in the canopy above).  I knew I was hooked when we uncovered the funky spotted brown flower of a sprig of wild ginger, lying hidden beneath the pine needles and leaves.

Mr. Braddy wrote my letter of recommendation, when I applied for NCSSM around that time, the early Spring of 1980.  He must have seen how much I loved Botany and Zoology, even though I was only one of a hundred of his students... or more.

I love everything about science.  I learned that the first time, back in middle school.  (And I learned it again... remembered the thrill... 30 years later, when my two girls were in middle school, and I volunteered to be a parent helper for NC Science Olympiad.)  So when I found out that there was a School of Science and Math opening in the Fall of 1980, I jumped at the opportunity.  It really seemed like a no-brainer.

Now, there were other reasons for me to apply.  Free room and board was a substantial incentive for me and my family.  My father had died in 1976, and my mother was living on social security payments for her two children, and a little spending money from a morning newspaper route.  I was getting up mornings at 4:30 AM to help on the paper route; and I was ready for that to be over.  Seriously ready!  Getting free food at a residential high school seemed like a way to reduce our burdens.

Basically, I felt like I was ready to get out of Dodge.  I was ready to start over.  And what could be better than starting over in a place, just a little way away from home, in a school full of like minded nerds.  It was a perfect opportunity.

My mother gave her blessing.  (She's the one who showed me the newspaper article in the first place!); and I got my letters of recommendation, and started the application process.  I was ready for my new life to begin.