Oh well. I've still got 14 seniors left, and they'll be pretty long. I just hope that they all manage to see this somehow.

Clay, I had wanted to say a lot to you in chapel today, but I decided against it because I hadn't figured out a good enough way to phrase it.

Basically, I truly regret this fighting that has gone on between us for the past five years. It has brought nothing but stress and misery to the both of us, and has solved absolutely nothing. I have tried on numerous occasions to bring an end to it, because I really didn't want to end the year so negatively in this area.

I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you (and the rest of the class as a result) over the years, but I will not accept full responsibility for this. For the longest time, I was always as nice to you as I could possibly manage, and all I got in return was hatred and insults.

I feel sorry for you, and I am truly worried about you, but there's nothing I can do anymore. I just want you to know that I'm not going to let this whole mess leave me unhappy for the rest of my life because it went unresolved, because I know that you won't do either. I tried, but I failed. Good luck in life. I hope you can find happiness someday.

Ian, since, like with Eric, it would seem likely that we will remain in contact for some time to come, I'm not going to spend a lot of time saying that much here. I will say, though, that you were probably my first real friend, all the back during that summer between (I think) 1st and 2nd grade. You were my only friend in the daycare, and you made it bearable.

Like all friends, we've had our disagreements over the years (through much of elementary, Adams was the one who awakened that classic childhood mentality of "a person can only have one friend"), but we've gotten through them, and I know we'll stay together for a long time.^_^

Randall, a few months ago, I wouldn't have had much of anything to say, and admittedly, even now, I don't have nearly as much as for some other people, but anyway...

It's been really fun sitting in front of you in 2nd and 3rd period. You're a really nice person, and it's been good getting to know you. I only wish we'd had a bit longer.

You still had the cutest baby picture in the yearbook though.^_^

Jasmin, I wish you'd been a senior last year so that I could have taken your advice to heart and played some sports this year. I do kind of feel like I've missed out. Like I've said several times, I feel like almost all of my friendships throughout my 14 years at WECS have remained far too shallow to continue after graduation, and that's what scares me so much. I'd been very thankful to be proven wrong though.

But anyway, you've been a good friend, and the Jr.-Sr. After-Party this year was really fun (not to say that last year's was bad, but this year's was obviously much better). I'm really gonna miss you.^_^

Berlin, I remember when you first came to WECS, how Clay constantly said you looked like you were about 35.

Well, you did look pretty old, but that doesn't matter, because you've always been a cool guy. Mrs. Howell was right though at the Jr.-Sr. It's strange how sometimes you can be a pretty rude and disrespectful guy, and then other times be one of the friendliest guys in the class. But thankfully, those bad days aren't nearly as common as the good ones, and overall, you're just a really nice guy, and you've been a pretty good friend over the years. I'll miss you too.^_^

Katie, I'm really not sure what to say. I've known you for years, though I must admit, not amazingly well. You've always written some of the nicest things in my yearbooks out of the entire class, and that's what I remember most of the top of my head. And I'll always remember how incredibly intelligent you are, always getting 100+ on all the Adv. Biology test last year, when I'd rather get above a 90. You've always been an encouragement though, and I'm thankful for that. I know that you'll be very successful in whatever you do, and I'll miss you terribly next year.^_^

Dustin, you are one of the nicest, friendliest, funniest, most sincere guys I have ever known, and I don't know what I'm going to do without you next year. I don't really know what else to say. You're just a really great guy, and you've made me laugh a lot this year. I'm glad you never let Clay get to you, as much trouble as he gave you. I don't think I'll as happy of a person not being able to hear your jokes everyday. I'm gonna miss you a lot.^_^

Boogie, we've had a crazy...bunch...of years at WECS. I remember years back how you were so insanely obsessed with Lara Croft...an obsession which I hope has gone away now that the Tomb Raider franchise has been a badly-beaten dead horse for about five years now. Over the years, I picked up a lot of your mannerisms, probably more than from anyone else, because a long time ago I considered you the most popular guy in class, and so I thought if I acted a bit more like you, I'd be a little more popular.

Coincidentally, I did become more well-liked in class around that time. Maybe I should thank you.

I can't say that I ever tried to drink a gallon of milk in an hour, and then photographed myself puking afterwards.

I'm sure that somewhere that type of humor will come in very handy, and will make you very successful in life.^_^

Justin, I remember when you came to WECS in 10th grade. For months I thought that you were a junior. You just looked more mature than everyone else, relatively. You've been a really fun guy to have in class though.

It was kind of scary that time when you put Miss Weisberg's stool out on the playground, and she had me take your bookbag out there and set it where the stool had been. You didn't notice for the entire period, and then at 11:40, she looked and didn't see your bookbag anymore. I ran down and found it a few feet from where I had put it. I brought it up right at 11:45. You looked a little mad. I was a little worried. It was pretty funny, though. I never would have expected Miss Weisberg to spend nearly ten minutes of class doing such an elaborate prank.

All that stool and podium-hiding this year was really funny though.

And there was that one time you gave advice about...that question I had a few months ago. Do you remember that one time? I do. I've still got your answer saved on my computer, spelling mistakes and all.

I'll really miss you next year.

Oh yeah. I hope I get my copy of Battle Royale back.^_^

Nick, the amount of...stuff that you've done in your life is amazing to me, considering your age. And you've often had some thought-provoking questions and opinions in Mrs. Howell and Miss Weisberg's classes, whether you were just messing with the teacher and trying to waste time, or whether you were honestly arguing contrarily to everyone else because that's what you actually believed...you always made me think.

The video you made for the Jr.-Sr. was amazingly, and I can't thank you enough for doing all the work necessary to pull it all off.

And for helping on all of our fundraisers even though you're not going on the cruise (which is very sad).

And thanks for helping me make it through Adv. Math this year. You've been a good friend, and I'm gonna miss you a lot.^_^

Laura Sebera, it's been...a long time--10 years, I guess. We didn't used to get along at all--I didn't get along with a lot of people back then, and I'm glad those days are over. You're a really kind person, and you've been a good friend over the years. You're one of the people I'll miss the most.^_^

I'm realizing that I'm starting to be very repetitive in what I'm saying, which I deeply regret. I really don't think that what little I'm saying is doing my real feelings much justice, but it's the best I can do right now. I'm still in denial about today being my last day of high school. ;_;

Anyway...

Jordan, whereas Boogie had an obsession with Lara Croft, I still remember your Mortal Kombat phase (I was going through it too at the time, as you may remember). I remember when we went to see Mortal Kombat: Annihilation--man, that was a terrible movie...I think that's probably what helped me get over the whole Mortal Kombat thing.

I feel like I should have a lot more to say, but for some reason I can't think of it. I feel bad about seeming to define our entire friendship by using a terrible movie that we saw seven years ago...

Kind of like Boogie, I've always thought of you as one of the "cool" guys, and I've probably picked up some mannerisms from you too over the years. You have a rather unique sense of humor (which usually only works when you mother is the teacher) that I'm gonna miss a lot in the future.^_^

Everyone, notice that I did not once say "Justin, Nick, and Jordan" throughout that whole thing.^_^

Laura Gilbert, let me first say that I am one of the only guys who never once called you "Gilbert".

You were probably the first girl to join the class (all those years ago) who was never once mean to me, even in the beginning, and I've never forgotten that. We never talked back then though--which is why you wrote this in my yearbook in 8th grade.

That was my fault though. I was not very used to anyone, much less a girl, actually wanting to talk to me about anything, so I never knew what to say.

If you hadn't gone to the Jr.-Sr. with me last year, I probably wouldn't have gone at all. Going with you, though, was--quite honestly--more than I had ever hoped for, and was one of the most fun nights of my life.

That exhilaration didn't last very long, but that wasn't your fault.

You've been a really good friend, and I'm gonna miss you, though hopefully we'll see each other at VCU.^_^

I wish I could think of something more original than "You've been a really good friend," which does a terrible job of expressing how I really feel...

Joelle...I really don't know what to say. We've been in the same class for eight years. Well, seven, I suppose, but either way, since 5th grade. And yet, I've never really gotten to know you at all. We never talked at all. Admittedly, having talked at the gate after school day after day all this year, I still feel like I barely know you, certainly not as well as I would have liked. It's always sad when you finally get to know someone in the last year of high school--and then it's all over.

If someone had asked me five years ago who the best-dressed person in the class was, I would have said it was you, and I'd say the thing today. Admittedly, a long time ago most people in class wore a bunch of $3 shirts from Wal-Mart anyway (myself included), so it wasn't hard to dress better than other people, but there's always been something...different about the way you dress. I (like most of the guys, I suspect) usually just put on the first thing we lay our hands on in the morning. Maybe it is because I'm a guy. Either way, there's always been something rather captivating about what you wear everyday. I don't really know how else to say it, but it's the way I've felt for years.

It doesn't hurt that Mrs. Robinson was right--you have a truly beautiful smile that can really brighten someone's day.

I've had some really crappy days this year--particularly troublesom fights with Clay, fights with Ian, fights with Eric, bad test grades, looking like a fool in a group project...all kinds of terrible stuff that gets me in a really bad mood by the end of the day. But just seeing you smile as you walked down the steps on your way to the gate after school was always enough to make me...happy, again. It's a smile that I'll never forget.

It's been really nice talking to you after school this year. I would have been bored to death otherwise.^_^

Of course, I also hope that June 5 won't be the last time I ever see you. I would say the same to all of the other seniors as well (and to those going on the cruise, I obviously mean something like "I hope that the day we get back won't be the last time I'll ever see you", or something like that...)

I have always had a tendency to underestimate the time necessary for each of these updates to my site. I foolishly thought that I'd finish this in maybe 30 minutes, but it's taken me three hours. Oh well. I'm done now. I just hope that no one feels like I should have said more to them--believe me, I should have said more. I certainly feel more strongly than whatever it was I said. I've just always had trouble writing...anything. Joelle, I hope you're right about me being a good writer. I'm not too confident, myself.^_^

Oh well.

I hope that at least some of you will keep in touch. If for some reason I didn't get around to signing your yearbook, and you need to talk to me, you can just ask around. It's almost certain that someone you know will know how to get in touch with me.^_^

5/25/04 - 8:05 P.M.
To those of you who are waiting intently to hear what I have to say tomorrow in chapel, I'll let you know right now that I don't have much of anything to say. I wanted to address every senior, and a couple of others (teachers, for example) tomorrow, but it's obvious that time constraints will prevent that. And so, in order to keep things as relatively balanced as possible, I may very well say very little tomorrow in chapel. However, I will have quite a bit to say right here.

The only problem that I haven't really dealt with is all the people that may not have easy access to the internet, and thus might not be able to read what I have to say. I wish that I could come up with a perfect solution to that, but I can't think of one. The best I can do is to ask that those with internet access inform whatever friends they have without it of what I said, assuming they think the person would care to know--I don't know, I might accidentally hurt someone's feelings, or they might be one of the ones that I say one sentence to since I barely know them. If they happen to be one of the ones without internet access, there's no terrible need to inform them in that case, right?^_^;

Just kidding of course. It's just hard to know who in today's computer-filled world might not have internet access. Not much I can do at this point though. I'm not sure I want to pick and choose who to say something to in chapel.

Anyway, I'm going to do these in a slightly random order, while also trying to move in the general direction of my shortest to longest statements to/about each.

First, to Thomas, Ashley, Kim, Stephanie, D.J., Marcus, Donel, Amanda, Chris, and even Drew (late edit: and Mary--I'm really sorry I forgot, but I only looked at the main senior section of the yearbook when I originally wrote out the checklist of the seniors): please don't take this the wrong way, but I've never really gotten to know you. I truly regret that, but as a result, I have very little to say. Chris, everyone so far has said that you're the greatest friend in the world. I regret, then, that we never got to know each other.^_^

Honestly, I meant no offense by that short group statement, so please don't get upset about it. Just remember--you don't really know me either, so I don't expect you to say much of anything about me either.^_^;

Cárin and Ashleigh, I've known you both since K4, and I know that sometime in the past, we were friends. Unfortunately, the class division in 7th grade separated us (as it also separated me from Brad, Travis, Matt, and others--the class split sucked...), and we haven't talked at all since then. While I'm a little sorry about that, it couldn't be helped, and there's not much that can be done about it at this point. It's not that important though. I still remember playing Power Rangers at recess back in 2nd and 3rd grade...those were the days...^_^

Bobby, when you first came to WECS, all I ever saw of you was that crazy, rebellious nature that got you in trouble all the time. While I've never been sure quite why you were like that (and still are), I have realized over the years that that is not all there is to you. While you might not take an intense interest in what is being taught in school, and thus receive lower grades on average than I do (not to imply that I have an intense interest in much of the curriculum either), I have realized that there are many areas in which you are much more knowledgeable than I am--mechanics, for example. That's something that I'm not into, and thus am not at all good at. We all just have different abilities, and I have realized that I shouldn't judge you entirely on all that bad behavior from a long time ago...and still, these days.

So, really, you're a pretty nice guy, and it's been fun getting to know you a little better this year. I'm gonna miss you a little.

Stop the smoking though. Those things'll kill ya.^_^;

Matt, I remember how well we got along back in elementary...you know...we didn't. Those were not fun times, considering that you were so incredibly strong, even back then. Like that time you nearly killed me in 4th grade. You had really turned around by middle school, and if the classes hadn't split, we'd probably be closer than we are.

So many regrets...and all because of that stupid split...

Anyway, you're a great guy, and I know that you'll be really successful in life...possibly moreso than me...which I hope will be saying something. Oh well. You've been a good friend, except when you were beating me up--but that was a long time ago.^_^

Nathan, we used to talk a lot more than we have in the past couple of years. Maybe the whole regular/honors thing had something to do with that too. Oh well. You were a good friend back then (though of course I would still call you my friend now, even though we haven't really talked in months). You were one of the relatively few people who knew who I liked a couple years back. You should feel privileged.^_^

Eric, since you're the person most likely to remain in contact with me in the future, it's somewhat pointless to spend a lot of time saying anything about you now. You were one of my only friends in K4, but that was because we were all just as dreadfully annoying as you back then. When you returned in 7th grade, you were still dreadfully annoying, but we had matured somewhat. You've gotten better though. Don't worry about it.

When you like a girl, though, at least talk to her.

Don't worry. It took me years to learn that one too.^_^;

Travis, our friendship was yet another unfortunate casualty of the class split. It's been fun though, all these years. I remember your birthday party about ten years ago, the last time I was in your house. And still, that place was so awe-inspiring that I still remember it as if it were yesterday. It's not about your house though. However, I don't remember much else from back then. I do know that you're far too obsessed with Halo though. It's just a game, dude...it is pretty good, though, I must admit--multiplayer, anyway.

Brad...please tell me that you've hated the class split as much as I have. We had a lot of fun back in elementary, didn't we? And it mostly involved me borrowing money. I'm sure I'll get around to paying you back one of these days. It's about $500 by now, don't you think?

You're a great guy though, and I've been happy to finally be able to talk to you again this year.^_^

Brannon, it's funny how all the people who were so mean to me through elementary are all now my friends...except one, but that's not important right now. I remember back in middle school how you weren't all that nice to me. Of course, some people weren't so nice to you either (good thing that whole "squirrel" thing finally wore off, huh?^_^). But things got better, and this year, I can really say that I consider you one of my best friends. When something interesting happens in my life, trust me, you've been one of the first to know about it every time (because you will neither tell Bent, nor sit silently and not respond, like some people). You've been really helpful, and a great friend. I'll be really sad if you go to Liberty, but if you do go, I'll be happy for you. You'll do fine wherever you decide to go. And don't forget that one day we'll go find El Dorado.^_^

Well, I didn't expect to do more than half of the class tonight. I guess that's enough for today. I'll try to finish tomorrow. Most of the upcoming ones will probably be a little longer than these though, so it might take me a while.

5/24/04 - 4:30 P.M.
OverClocked ReMix has a new layout--a very nice one, I might add--and eleven new remixes since yesterday. They are all exceptionally good, being done by the "legends" of OCR, but the best, in my opinion, is definitely McVaffe's "The Darkness and the Light" remix of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Absolutely marvelous, and it is thus my song of the day.^_^

Moving along with all this school stuff, since most seniors remember last year fairly well, considering that virtually all of them were already at WECS, I will be rather brief regarding 11th grade.

Actually, I should say first that I really hate how I forget all the important stuff from certain years until the day after, so...well, more stuff to add to yesterday.

9th grade was Lauren Parrish's last year at WECS. At the beginning of 10th grade, this made me rather sad. In the end, I decided that I was better off not having her there anyway.

It's worth mentioning, however, that even during her absence since 9th grade, there were periods of time where I couldn't stop thinking about her. This case from the fact that she kept showing up every now and then, and she was always so nice to me during that time that I kept forgetting the, um...less desirable aspects of her personality...

Anyway, after seeing her across the street from Hopewell High one day with her posse, and having her look directly at me for several seconds and not show the tiniest sign of...anything, I finally got over her.

I'm done.

Anyway, 11th grade was Nick's first year at WECS, as well as Miss Weisberg's first year (as a teacher). Randall also came somewhere in the middle of the year.

The Jr.-Sr. Banquet last year (on the Annabel Lee) was very nice, and was the best ever at the time. Even the rain could not ruin it (in my opinion at least; others might disagree).

I'm trying to think of anything else to mention about last year, but I can't, so I guess that's it.

I came into this year knowing all too well that it would be the last, and I was determined to make the most of it. I spent more time on this site than I had previously, in an effort to make it clear that this site does not rise and fall with my attendance at WECS. I fully plan on continuing to update it regularly as long as I am able, which I certainly hope will be long after graduation. Admittedly, I am unsure what I will be able to write about that will be of interest to anyone after we are out of WECS, but I'll do my best. All I can hope for is that everyone else will bear with me as I try desperately to keep things interesting.^_^;

I have a lot to say about this year, I suppose, but I worry that some might take it the wrong way.

Joelle came back.

There.

Now that that's done with, this year started off terribly workwise, with me early on already calling this the worst year of school ever. I don't really know what the problem was/is. I just haven't been able to make myself do the work to the best of my ability all year. I think it might come back to what I kind of said last week, about everything other than being with beig with my friends seems like such a waste of precious time...I've been aware of it all year.

Clay says it's laziness, but I've thought for a long time that it's fear--fear of graduation, fear of the unknown, fear of losing so many of the people that I've grown up with, fear of life...there's so much fear, and when I come and sit down here, I feel terribly alone, even talking to people all night online, I feel so alone, that this kind of fear takes hold of me, and I sit, unable to do any homework, for hours. I do other things...I download hundreds of megabytes of fan-translated manga every day, seemingly for the sake of simply getting it...I read news on the internet for hours at a time...sometimes I would play FFXI for eight hours straight, and let the world just pass me by. It was because by doing homework, I was made completely aware of the fact that each assignment brought me closer and closer to the end of school, the end of my life at WECS, and, worst of all in my mind, the likelihood of the loss of many, many friends that I had known for years.

I don't know why that just all came out after I said that Joelle came back, but......maybe I do know, but I'm definitely not going to get into that now...that could go on for dozens of pages (not about her...something else entirely...but that reminded me of it...)

And, ironically, I now find myself sitting here again, with quite a bit of work that I should be doing, and instead writing this.

I'll start talking about the seniors tomorrow. To the people that actually read what's here, I might as well let you know--don't feel bad if I don't mention you in chapel Wednesday. I probably won't say anything about many people in chapel--I'll do all of that here. I've only got a little bit to say, and it's only to people who probably won't come here.

5/23/04 - 9:30 P.M.
Sorry I'm so late tonight. I forgot somehow.

Anyway, first of all, the 2000-2001 yearbook was extremely well-designed, with the whole Game of Life (which obviously cost the school quite a bit of money), and the back cover had Mr. and Mrs. Sedivy on it.^_^

Now that I think about it, I completely forgot to talk about Mrs. Panell, our horror of a "creative writing" teacher during part of middle school. I'm still unsure whether it was a difference between American and British grammar, or whether she just didn't know what she was doing, but it was impossible to turn in an assignment to her and not have her put some kind of red mark on each and every sentence for some perceived grammatical error.

Absolutely. Terrible.

Getting back to 9th grade, we had Mrs. Howsmon for English. I had initially felt like ranting and raving about how terrible she was, and how great it's been since she left, but honestly, she was probably the last good English teacher to teach high school at WECS (sorry, Miss Weisberg--you're getting better, don't worry...don't give up). She was just hard, and I ended up with a C in her class at least once in the year, probably twice. I don't remember much else. She kind of cast a shadow over the beginning of my high school life though.

Moving on, in 10th grade came Clay's Great Escape. He had been enrolled in Broadway Christian, and was thus finally free of WECS, which he seemed to consider to be rather like the Ninth Circle of Hell.

He came back about three weeks later. Apparently, either Broadway had invented a tenth circle for Hell, or WECS wasn't quite as bad as he had thought.

Anyway, 10th grade also brought the arrival of John Reid, the greatest Un-English teacher who ever lived. He was an English teacher, except that he wasn't.

The first day, we discussed grammar, and spelling and such, and he finished by asking, "Why do we bother to learn all this crap?", and that was more or less the last time grammar had any part of his English class until February or so.

We read A Tale of Two Cities that year...or pretended to anyway. We only read about 1/4 of it, and we would stop after almost every paragraph so that Mr. Reid could spend the next twenty minutes explaining what we had just read, and why the American government was terrible.

He occasionally spent entire class periods on completely unrelated issues, such as Satanism. One day, he made us read Jesus' statement about faith the size of a mustard seed, and then tried to convince us that this was a commandment against cursing--apparently based upon the usage of the word "is".

We spent much of the third quarter of the year watching episodes of Murder, She Wrote, and attempting to guess the identity of the murderer.

After Spring Break, Mr. Reid had not-so-mysteriously left, and was replaced by Mr. Newman, whose only noteworthy characteristic was his tendency to slap the desk with a ruler. Given the fact that he was, originally, a math teacher, who seemed sometimes incapable of pronouncing our vocabulary words, we finished off the year watching Horatio Hornblower. Overall, English was a history class more than an English class.

However, 10th grade was also the Year of Keeling--Alex Keeling, to be exact, the best Bible teacher that WECS has ever had, and the guy who saved the WEPC youth group (which is, unfortunately, on its last legs--go visit--Wed. 6:30-8:00--save the youth group ^_^; ). He was really just a great guy--and he loved video games, so he was obviously cool.^_^

Unfortunately, he left the school and church near the end of the year, and the youth group fared far worse than the school, which would become clear in time.

And that's it for tonight.^_^

Tomorrow--11th grade, and I begin the long recollection of the senior year, and each person, one by one (including the few people that I barely know--they will go quickly).

5/22/04 - 8:45 P.M.
I saw Troy today, and I thought it was very good. I never exactly been a Brad Pitt fan, but I thought he did a really good job as Achilles.

7th grade brought the arrival of Laura Gilbert. I can't think of anything to say about that off-hand at the moment, but...well, I'm glad she came. I'll try to think of something better sometime later.

7th grade was also, unfortunately, our only year with Mr. Deckert, the best math teacher ever--sorry Mr. Sedivy.^_^;

7th grade was when the class was finally split into the honors and regular classes. Unfortunately, people that I had known for years, like Brad, Travis, and Matt, were in the regular classes. The two classes had little contact with each other, so my contact with several friends was broken (and has not since recovered to the extent that I would like).

7th grade saw the expulsion of two members of the class. The first was Jonathan Taylor, a new guy (in the regular class) who was expelled for constant fighting with James. Why James remained I have no idea, because he was just as bad. But it doesn't matter anymore.

The other was Bobby Harney (who was going out with Laura G. at the time, if you didn't know^_^). While the details surrounding his expulsion have remained somewhat secret over the years (immediately following the expulsion, Mrs. Ange prohibited us from discussing it amongst ourselves), it is generally agreed that the real reason was his claim of having a hit list (on which I was #3 ^_^; ), which he said that he planned to act upon at age 18. However, the "official" reason is usually said to have been the theft of some money (a clever trap set by Mr. Weisberg, supposely). (note:this was the reason he was expelled--stealing money from Laura Sebera; however, there had been concerns previously over his hit list claim, so WECS was still likely looking for a way to get rid of him).

Anyway, he was finally gone, which was a very good thing.

8th grade, I suppose, wasn't extremely eventful. It was the school 50th anniversary, and the yearbook reflected that, but other than that, the only important thing that I can think of off the top of my head is that Mr. Sedivy returned to teach at WECS for the first time in a decade or so.

5/21/04 - 7:45 P.M.
A correction to a statement from yesterday--Kelly Orner did attend WECS in 5th grade. Sorry about the mistake.^_^;

Well, as I said yesterday, fourth grade was awful, but fifth grade more than made up for it, and is, in my opinion, probably the high point of my time at WECS.

Mrs. Copland was the nicest teacher that anyone could possibly ask for--the complete opposite of Mrs. Gray. Fifth grade was the first year at WECS for Joelle, Boogie, and Jordan, among others.

Oh yeah. James Hayes...

I guess it was too much to ask for a class without another violent moron...

James Hayes was like Adams Smith, except without there being anything even remotely likeable about him. He was a really hyperactive guy who would try to beat you up over the tiniest thing. He hurt a couple of us back in the day, and his reign of terror, so to speak, lasted well into middle school, until he had finally gotten into one fight too many, and left the school.

This was also the year that Mrs. Ange switched from teaching K4 to teaching middle school--so I'd have something to look forward to.^_^

I'm not sure what it was about 5th grade that made it seem so...perfect, but there was something about it that I haven't felt since. I just don't know what that is.

'96-'97 also saw the departure of Mrs. Latta as librarian, and the hiring of Mrs. Panell, who would soon take the crown for being the worst teacher ever at WECS, but more on that later. Moving on, 6th grade was, of course, the beginning of middle school, and was of course a tremendous change. Clay returned after having gone to Woodlawn for one year (where he met Eric--which is, to an extent, the reason he returned to WECS^_^).

Wait...I know now why 5th grade was so nice...^_^;

Anyway, '97-'98 was also notable for being the first time since '90-'91 that the yearbook was hardcover, which could be taken as a sign of the school's financial recovery, also evidenced by the slow re-addition of the high school grades, beginning with Mr. Weisberg's taking the job of principal (thanks, Mr. Weisberg^_^).

'97-'98 was also the first time in...well, a long time, that a class had graduated from WECS. One of the graduates was Lesley Wiesberg. Unfortunately, her pictures didn't scan properly (they looked like crap, which could have been a result of the way they were printed in the yearbook), so I'm not going to bother putting them here.

As far as our class, sixth grade saw the arrival of, most notably, Bobby Harney, Matt Homeyer, and Brannon.

Bobby Harney wasn't too bad in the beginning, but as I will mention tomorrow, by 7th grade (when he went out with Laura G.), it was obvious that he was a psycho (not in any way related to the above statement regarding Laura).

Matt H. was just...well, big.

And Brannon just had funny hair back then.^_^

It is also worth noting that through some strange twist of fate, Mrs. Phillips, a MS teacher that I dreaded having for years, switched to teaching 5th grade right as we went into 6th. So I never had her for a teacher.^_^

And that's about it for 6th grade.

In other news, I had an accident on I-295 this afternoon, but I don't want to talk about it right now.^_^;

5/20/04 - 8:25 P.M.
One amendment to my comments on 1st and 2nd grade--disciplinary policies.

My mother tells me that Mrs. Sedivy's policy was to make a misbehaving student sit down and write what they had done wrong, and write what they would do differently the next time the issue came up. Admittedly, I remember doing this, but not until much later in elementary, in major disciplinary incidents in which Mrs. Sedivy was called on for support (Mrs. Sevidy was/is the head of the elementary department). But either way, that was Mrs. Sedivy's unique way of handling things.

Miss Wilson's approach was different. She had on the classroom wall, between the two windows nearest the closet where the cubbies were, a bulletin board with five envelopes on it, numbered from 1 to 5. When one of us did something wrong, we would have to take a popsicle stick, and stick it into one of the five envelopes. The significance was that the numbers corresponded to different categories of misbehavior. My memory gets cloudy here, as I don't remember what these categories were exactly, but I definitely had to insert my share of sticks.^_^;

Oh well. Mrs. Quinlan's method was the typical "write the student's name on the board, then put checkmarks beside it" method.

Moving on, as some of you may remember (though I guess it's only about five of us), Mr. Bowling left WECS as principal at the end of the 1993-1994 school year, and was soon replaced by Mr. Weisberg, which always seemed odd since he was the coach (to this day my mother still sometimes calls him Coach Weisberg out of "habit", despite him being principal for 10 years now).

Replacing Mr. Weisberg as coach was Wadesworth Brown (we didn't learn his first name for another two years or so--understandably, I suppose^_^).

It was actually Mrs. Brooks' first year at WECS.

Meanwhile, in our class, Matt and Laura S. arrived, and Brad got glasses.

Matt was a pretty mean guy, to me anyway.^_^

Meanwhile, Adams beat the crap out of Laura one day, which was terrible of course. By the end of 3rd grade, though, Adams had calmed down somewhat. I didn't get along with Matt or Laura at all during 3rd grade though (and not for several years after that, in fact).

Unfortunately, Mrs. Howell was out for what seemed like half of the year with back problems, and we were stuck with Mrs. Puse for a large part of the year (picture taken from the '92 yearbook, the year in which she taught 3rd grade). I guess she wasn't horrible, but compared to Mrs. Howell, she might as well have been Satan himself.

Oh wait...she was a terrible teacher...

During one of Mrs. Howell's shorter absences, we were told (by her) that when she returned, whoever had had their name written on the board by Mrs. Puse (for bad behavior) would have no recess for a week. One day while Mrs. Howell was gone, we were sitting in class while Mrs. Puse was teaching, and for whatever reason, Mrs. Puse decided that I wasn't listening to her satisfaction (my eyes were on the fan at the time), and though in reality, I was listening, she wrote my name on the board.

When Mrs. Howell returned, she took my recess for a week as threatened, despite pleas from myself, as well as other students (the first time I remember anyone else defending me concerning something like that) of my innocence.

Mrs. Howell's disciplinary policy involved attaching pieces of tape to a blue clipboard, each corresponding to a length of time (five minutes, I believe) subtracted from recess. The only time that I recall this method not being implemented was when I drew two people on the board naked, which resulted, I'm almost sure, in a complete loss of recess.

One more thing--why was this guy in 7th grade that year...? o_o

And that was 3rd grade. Though one thing still terrified me, as well as the rest of the class, and for good reason, we would soon find out.

Moving into 4th grade, I had concerns. Mrs. Gray's reputation had become known even to us when we were in 3rd grade.

I guess I'll begin this with a little disclaimer: I have nothing against Mrs. Gray at all anymore. I don't want to give the impression that I'm still mad at her about something. I'm simply telling things the way I saw them back then, and thus still view them today to some extent.

That said, Mrs. Gray is my least favorite elementary teacher by far, below even Mrs. Sedivy.

I can't even really say what it was about her that made her hard to get along with, but that was just it--I couldn't get along with her--none of us got along with her.

One amusing story from fourth grade (amusing now, not amusing then) was one day, when Matt lost all his recess time because of something he had done. We ended up in the bathroom at the same time (along with a couple of other guys), and I laughed at him. He got really mad, and picked me up off the floor by the neck. I, understandably, thought he was going to kill me, and left the bathroom screaming, after having been rescued by several of the other guys who were in the bathroom at the time.

Anyway, '95-'95 was notable for being Mrs. Ange's first year, as the K4 teacher (she is likely my favorite middle school teacher, along with Mr. Deckert). Meanwhile, back in class, Mrs. Gray tormented every one of us. I was thinking again just yesterday that if Jordan had attended WECS in 4th grade, he would have literally died. Mrs. Gray did not allow drawing in class, even during free time--she said it was a waste of time, and wanted us to have nothing to do with it. I hardly draw at all, and even I though that that was ridiculous.

4th grade was Kelly Orner's first and only year at WECS (unfortunately, she picked a bad year...). She's one of the ones who for whatever reason got it the worst from Mrs. Gray. She was also the first girl I ever liked, but after eight years, that's neither here nor there.

I thought I'd have more to say about 4th grade, but I guess not.

Wait a minute. How could I forget? How could anyone for get this guy?^_^

4th grade sucked...but tomorrow...5th grade--the high point of my WECS career...

5/19/04 - 8:30 P.M.
I was asked, a short while ago, to write about second grade tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow. Initially, I didn't really want to, but now, realizing how few days of school we really have left, and kind of wanting to finish all of this by graduation, I think I'll try to do at least two grades each day from now on. I'll try...

Anyway, second grade was, for that year, and that year alone, taught by Lynette Wilson, the daughter of then-pastor at WEPC, Dr. Wilson (she then married shortly after the end of the school year). I remember her being a nice teacher, though I don't really remember any specifics.

2nd grade was probably the first grade in which I would identify Ian as a friend, and in general, a time in which I had a lot of friends in general--Brad and Travis for instance.

Okay, so 2nd grade was pretty boring too. Sorry about that.

2nd grade is also notable, however, for being the grade during which the Power Rangers obsession began, which ended up dragging several girls along with it for quite some time (Cárin being one of them).

The following two bits of WECS history are likely embarrasing for all parties involved. I still remember at least two bits of WECS which might be embarrasing for several people, myself included, but I have been unable to determine in which year they have occurred, so they will have to wait a while.

One person who arrived in 2nd grade who might be remembered by some current students (though from 3rd or 4th grade) was Adams Smith. A strange name for a strange individual. Incredibly tall for a child his age, with strength to match, he had a volatile temper, and unlike some later hot-tempered students, he had the strength to back it up, which was a dangerous combination sometimes.

Tomorrow, 3rd grade, where things finally might become more familiar to current WECS students.

5/19/04 - 3:30 P.M.
First grade, my first year of elementary, and one that I have always had mixed feelings about. I hated Mrs. Sedivy at the time, and for years thereafter I continued to say that I hated her, but really, I think that my feelings were unjustified. I don't think now that she's nearly as nearly as bad as I used to think she was. Meanwhile, now that my brother is in her class, all I ever hear is how terribly mean she is, but only to him...kind of like how Boogie has always insisted that Mrs. Brooks was always out to get him...I don't believe it...

Anyway, I only really remember two things, both of whom involve Brian Hayes (second from the left on the front row in this picture, beside Brad). The first is that he ruined by birthday party at McDonald's by screaming like an idiot through the whole thing. My other memory is, of course, when he broke his leg on the playground one day, and was out of school for a very long time (we actually took a field trip to visit him one day).

Brian left after 1st grade, but strangely enough, because Mr. Deadwyler has known since, like, forever, he came to WECS during lunch one day this year. I didn't recognize him at all, and of course, he didn't recognize me, but it was kind of interesting to see him for the first time in 11 years...

Oh yeah. I do remember something else. One day, Mrs. Sedivy and I got into a big argument at recess about ninjas. She argued that they were quite literally mythical. She seemed to believe that they never existed, and were entirely fictional. This is, of course, absolutely ridiculous.

Wanna know something else that's absolutely ridiculous? The myth that the U.S., or rather, an American company, invented the VCR. That's what's ridiculous.

Sony invented and released the first (Betamax) VCR in the late 1970's. It was a TV/VCR combo that sold for nearly $3000. Shortly thereafter, JVC (Victor Company of Japan) invented the VHS format, which over the course of the next decade would drive Betamax into obsolescence.

No American corporation was involved in the conception of the VCR.

5/18/04 - 8:15 P.M.
A few minutes ago, I came upon a song that I have been meaning to get for quite some time, and which is a very slight comfort at this time. So for the first time in several weeks, I've got a new song up--"My Hope is You" by Third Day.

I kind of wish I had a live Benji Ramsaur/Steve Taylor recording though.^_^

5/18/04 - 7:45 P.M.
I feel terrible.

I come to school every day and, sure, I say that I hate the idea of graduation, and that I want to stay at WECS forever, but I always do it in my typical, joking kind of way.

But honestly, it terrifies me. I am literally paralyzed with fear, having no idea of how to relieve myself of it.

I realize that I have wasted most of my life sitting in front of TVs and computers, and that while I claim an incredible number of "friends" at school, virtually all of these are people that I simply get along with and talk to a lot. They're not people that I go and hang out with on the weekend or anything like that. I realize that after all these years, I still feel that I barely know most of them. And it terrifies me that after graduation...after the cruise...that the class will disperse, and that I will never hear from these people again.

I am pitifully bad at expressing my emotions. I'm one of those people who couldn't smile with their teeth showing to save their life, and nothing less is considered "happy" enough in pictures. I just can't do it. It has always felt fake or forced to me. I can be extremely happy though, but very few people are ever able to notice it. Most people...many in my own family...think that I'm always unhappy because I can't walk around with a gigantic fake grin on my face all the time.

WECS has always been very important to me, the people most of all, of course. And I cannot honestly think of one person in class who I can honestly say that I'd be happy to never see again. There is something about every one of you that I have come to love, and can't imagine being without. And it frightens me terribly that I am 18 days from graduation, and have so few close friends, and I feel powerless to do anything about it. Every other activity that I would otherwise enjoy--playing a game, watching a movie, even taking a nap sometime...just seems like a further waste of my life. I just don't know what to do. It simply scares me to death that these people that I have more or less grown up with...that I might never see most of them again.

I don't know what else to say. Hopefully, since I went ahead and got that out, I won't say it again next Wednesday in chapel. I certainly hope not anyway. If it made me cry to type it, I definitely don't want to say it...

5/18/04 - 6:00 P.M.
Now, I finally get around to being able to talk about something that I can remember a little more clearly--K5. And now that I have yearbooks, I can have pictures (all pictures are from the yearbooks from the years being written about, unless otherwise noted).^_^

Back then, Mr. B was much younger, looking somewhat like Bill Gates when he was young (take that whatever way you like), and Miss Weisberg was still in 6th grade (I apologize for the appearance of that picture--it's the unfortunate result of my early yearbooks being wet for days without my knowledge and becoming moldy).

Unfortunately, I still remember relatively little as far as events go. Mrs. Quinlan was, and still is, a wonderful teacher, but I remember surprisingly little about her, except that she is a teacher who to this day greets me in the hall, unlike someone like, say, Mrs. Sedivy...

The only event of any interest that I remember is when DeMond brought a shotgun to class one morning, and ran with it into the bathroom (Mrs. Quinlan's room being the only non-preschool classroom to contain one). Nothing actually happened, but I still find it as shocking of an idea today as I did back then, though for obviously different reasons. As school shootings still had years to go before making the news, this was not the "zero tolerance" issue that it is today.

Oh yeah. K5 also marked the arrival of Lauren and Travis--and Alexandra Moragne, called "Precious". Based on what I've heard lately, she's not quite as precious anymore (though admittedly, she returned to WECS during middle school).

That's about it. The yearbook's were short back then, and my memory still isn't very clear. Things should get reasonably more interesting as time goes by. There were 16 people in the K5 class.

Ah, yes. The farmer--K4.

More to come...

5/17/04 - 7:45 P.M.
Gameplay impressions of Final Fantasy XII seem to place the new Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system somewhere closer to an MMORPG (like FFXI, for instance) than the more traditional FF's. All I can hope for is that it doesn't play at all like .hack--which sucked, as you may remember.

Somehow, approaching graduation, and the possibility of never seeing many of my classmates again takes away much of my desire to talk about games...or anything else for that matter. At the same time, I am uncertain whether I want to begin the long process of talking about my life at WECS before or after graduation. I really want as many seniors as possible (and anyone else if they so desire) to be able to see this site and tells me what they think, but I am worried that I might hurt someone's feelings, and that's not something I want to do. I want to be honest in what I say about people, but I'm not out to make people mad. But I might as well get started. I won't run into that kind of problem until the high school years anyway, so I've got a while...

When I was still four (turning five that November), I left my day care--Little School, a hellish little place on Oaklawn Blvd., and started at Dupont Elementary, which was an equally hellish place, due in part to a teacher (whose name I can't remember) who was plagued with migraines, which left her a very unhappy person.

If my memory serves me correctly, I somehow wound up at WECS (Sheepfold to be exact) after school. One day, near Thanksgiving, my mother seemed strangely late in picking me up.

When my dad arrived, we found my mother having a discussion with the K4 teacher, regarding my possible enrollment. When asked if I would like to go to WECS, I eagerly said "yes", apparently knowing only that anything was better than Dupont.

I began attending WECS right after Thanksgiving. I have very few memories of K4, and without a yearbook, I can't even be sure who was in the class (I'm still bitter over not having a yearbook of my first year at WECS only because I came three months into the year). Anyway, I am sure that Ian, Brad, and Cárin were in the class, as well as Eric. I don't remember having much to do with them though (well, except Eric). Aaron Reidmiller was one of my best friends at the time.

Well, that boring. It's just that without a yearbook, and being so young, it's possible that I might remember something wrong, or get the years confused, and I don't want to do that.

I also know that for most of you, these early years will be quite boring anyway, since only Ian, Brad, Cárin and I would remember any of this.

There's still some possibly very funny stuff coming up in the near future, if you keep an open mind, and remember that we were very young and had very little idea of the stupidity of the things we were doing and saying...and about who...