School Days

Have I ever told you that I had the best Elementary School Principal ever? It's true, I did. He slaved away at the school, planning things like nifty notes, Bee Bucks, Hall of Fame, assemblies, school plays, and on and on. As my father, he encouraged me to be active in all these extra activities and I'll never forget the bribes he gave me so that I'd do well on my spelling tests. Mmm, I could go for a shake at Leo's right now. Despite all these bribes I was always out on the first round of the Spelling Bee. It was the Geography Bee that lead me to success (second in my class, fourth overall). Shucks, I was so proud. I loved my Principal so much it didn't even bother me to spend an extra year at the school. No, I didn't get held back. 5th grade was demoted to Elementary school.

But eventually I did have to move on to Middle School, and boy was I obnoxious! I sewed my hair together in home ec. Made a fool out of old Mr. Owens daily, and about a hanful of other things I'm too ashamed to mention. I was grounded throughout most of the 8th grade. And if Mrs. Tanner, the planning center lady, hadn't liked me so much I wouldn't have lasted long on the Basketball team. So I guess I'm thankful for her, Mrs. Zubeck, Mr. Lilywhite, Mrs. Holman and the few others who saw past the bratty little teenager starving for attention.

Then on to high school. I'm one of those people who will tell you I looooved high school. Would I do it again? NO. But I wouldn't change a minute of it. And people can laugh all they want about a DHS education, but I learned plenty there. MoDel kicked my butt and got me ready for college more than any other class. Mr. Sanders challenged me to think critically and not just memorize facts. Mrs. Roper, bless her heart, wasn't afraid to let me find my own ways to work out a problem (I say bless her heart because I know I was a little chatty in her classes). And George Henry, do teachers get any better than that? My grassroots in Delta sure did lead me on the right path.

And thanks Mom and Dad for being too afraid to send your little girl to her dream college in the big city of Salt Lake. Going to USU was the best decision I've ever made. I think I just may force all my kids to go there too. I'm so grateful I went to a hippie college where the professors were world travelers and research scholars. I'm grateful they were open minded and even "liberal" at times. I'm grateful most my class sizes were small enough the professors knew me by name and welcomed me to their office. I'm grateful for the few great English professors who truly helped me improve my writing, even if time away from the University hinders my continual progress. I love Utah State and miss it all the time. Go Aggies.

Today, as you can guess, I'm grateful for my education.