# Did you enjoy high school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 21, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422 "2006-02-21T02:41:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/41 "2006-02-21T14:21:42Z")
> [@XaMcQ](#): > > I’m including junior high too. If for some reason you had a chance to be thirteen again and had to relive grades 7-12, would you be glad? I don’t mean a situation where you get to go back and still keep all your memories, experience and adult perspective. I mean go back to the confused, hormone-challenged kid you were then. > > Given a choice between that and say, being tortured with a power drill, it’d be a close call for me. I actually _did_ enjoy HS. I had a difficult home life and any time spent away from it was Nirvana for me. I’m probably one of the few people I know who actually looked forward to their HS reunion. So many people there had _no_ idea of the safe haven they gave me at a very difficult time simply by being there. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/42 "2006-02-21T14:31:09Z")
> [@XaMcQ](#): > > If for some reason you had a chance to be thirteen again and had to relive grades 7-12, would you be glad? I’d rather slam my nuts in a car door. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/43 "2006-02-21T14:40:13Z")
No. Not only was high school not really all that great, but home life was pretty shitty, too, at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/44 "2006-02-21T14:43:45Z")
_shudders at the mere thought_ No, I wouldn’t. While grades 4-6 were the real worst years of my life, it took until I graduated for the slow climb up to actually reach something resembling ‘good’. 7-9 still rather sucked and while 10-12 weren’t as bad, they still weren’t much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/45 "2006-02-21T15:06:31Z")
Smokin’ pot, kissing boys, studying all the stuff I loved…what’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/46 "2006-02-21T15:13:15Z")
High School - NFW College is another thing altogether. Hell yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Megyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Megyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Megyn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/47 "2006-02-21T15:16:27Z")
No, not within the parameters that the OP states. If I didn’t have the knowledge I have now, I’d just do the same things all over again, and go through the turmoil I went through the first time, and I see no reason to do it. I -would- however love to go back armed with some of the knowledge I have now. There are mistakes I made that hurt people tremendously that I would change. There are witty comments I’ve thought up over the years to throw back at the people who hurt me. And there are grades I would have worked on, and classes I would have taken that I didn’t take then because I was too afraid to actually be good at them, and am finding that they would have helped me now. If I could go back to that time, simply with the confidence in myself that I have now (not even the knowledge that led up to that confidence) that I never had then, I would do it. If I was remanded to going back to that time to relive what I experienced then, without any knowledge of what I’d become, then no freaking way. Nothing would change for me or the people I’ve cared about if I did, and I do not care to relive the nightmare for me that was highschool. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/48 "2006-02-21T15:24:03Z")
I enjoyed high school. I had a good group of friends, quite a few whom I still keep in touch with. I wouldn’t want to do it again either way. Knowing what I know now would leave me kind of alienated since I would be a 31 year old trapped in the body of an 18 year old surrounded by them. To be 13 again would not be fun since I rather enjoy being a bit older. Like most people, I am a lot more comfortable in my own skin at 31 than I ever was as a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/49 "2006-02-21T15:35:37Z")
Those were some of the worst years of my life. I would give _anything_ to never, ever have to relive them again, even in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/50 "2006-02-21T15:38:10Z")
Hell no. I went through high school (and jr. high) with essentially no clue about how to make friends or connect with people; I literally never touched a girl (despite desperately wanting to); I hadn’t yet discovered the wonders of caffeine and stumbled through many days at school in a half-asleep haze… Now, if I could go back and redo those years _knowing what I know now_, I’m sure I could vastly improve on them. But that’s the story of my life: it seems I only get each phase of my life figured out well after it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/51 "2006-02-21T16:43:51Z")
Would I have to wear the same clothes and hair? ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/52 "2006-02-21T16:52:53Z")
Hmm. My first reaction is to say absolutely, I would love to be in High School again (grades 9-12). Sure, it sucked, and lots of people made my life miserable, but I miss the feeling of discovering everything for the first time, when every stupid boy I had a crush on was, without a doubt, my One True Love whom I would pine for forever, and my mom was my Mortal Enemy who would never ever understand me and the incredible COMPLEX way my mind worked. I had a group of great friends who were all discovering themselves the same way I was, and I miss what it was like to go out on a Friday night and have a blast just walking around town with chums, scaring the normals, before anyone had ever really tried drugs or alcohol, when the strongest substance we imbibed in was sugary soda, and occasionally sex. 😉 On the other hand, I love where I am now, and I wouldn’t change anything from High School, so what would be the point? All things considered, I’d have to go with no. I did it perfectly the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/53 "2006-02-21T17:11:57Z")
Hmmm… My first reaction would be to say no, as the actual school part was hell-on-earth. I actually remember waking up one morning at arounf 6:10 AM and thinking “maybe I died the other day and this is hell.” Not to mention some of the social interaction (especially in 9th grade). OTOH, I realy enjoyed some of the things that happened around tht time. Narrowly avoiding being caught drinking, the whole swim team thing, just hanging out and messing with people’s heads, the rare fist-fight (more for the experience of doing it than for the fighting, of course). The reaching various stages of sexual experiences for the first times :D. [hijack]Something that I feel I must mention was how other people’s percertion of me changed from 9th to 12th grade. Durring freshman year I was considered to a wierd somewhat geeky kid. By senior year I was known (somewhat incorrectly) as a satan worshipping, muscular, hard-drinking, metal head, crazy mo-fo. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/54 "2006-02-21T17:15:58Z")
For grades 7-9, I’d take the power drill. Grades 10-12 were not so bad, and outside of school hours I had a lot of great times. But the stipulation that I not know anything that I know now would make me pass on the whole deal. I’d need to have the discipline that I have now, and the knowledge that a lot of things I thought mattered didn’t in order to make it be worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/55 "2006-02-21T20:41:20Z")
Regarding high school count me in the “meh” group. I was quiet, bothered no one, didn’t get bothered or pushed around by anyone, and did my work. I had similarly nerdy friends with whom, for one reason and another, I’ve lost touch. I got my academic ass in gear so I could graduate with a decent record and get into a good college; while in JHS I’d gone through some serious problems with bad grades and lack of motivation. Also, senior HS , which at that time was only the last three years, just seemed like a continuation of JHS. Most of the same kids were there who’d been in my 9th grade class, and there weren’t any hazing rituals aimed at 10th-graders generally. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/56 "2006-02-21T21:10:20Z")
Junior High, no thanks. It was a brand new “magnet” school that was trying, pretty unsuccessfully to blend students from all kinds of background while experimenting with the new open classroom concept at the same time. Chaos and some of the most burned-out, piss-poor teachers I’ve ever had to contend with. High school was pretty good after freshman year. I wasn’t one of the popular types, but I did well academically and had activities that I enjoyed. Then I got to shove off to a top-notch college while the popular types were stuck at Local U. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/57 "2006-02-21T22:53:36Z")
My junior high was 3-years - 7, 8, and 9. I wouldn’t do that again for love or money. High school, grades 10, 11, and 12, was more fun now that I’m looking back on it that I realized at the time. Then again, I just got the info for my 20th reunion and suddenly I’m drowning in nostalgia. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/58 "2006-02-21T23:14:27Z")
I hated High School. I hate thinking about the awkwardness I felt, the bad decisions I made, having to grow up so fast and come to terms with a broken family. Ugh. And I was a popular kid - not an A-List kid, or a jock, I was a clean-cut stoner with a steady job, a car, and a bunch of clean-cut stoner friends. There isn’t even an archetype in teen movies for my group of friends. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/59 "2006-02-21T23:15:12Z")
I had a great time in HS and had good grades (third in my class). Popular enough, and with plenty of friends. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422/60 "2006-02-22T00:20:18Z")
Eh, high school was fine, but I don’t have a strong desire to relive it, primarily because life after high school was so much more fun and interesting. Now, if I could go back armed with what I know now, _that_ might be worth thinking about… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-enjoy-high-school/345422.md?page=4)