I hated HS. With a flaming, loathing passion.
Never able to fit into any crowd, I finally settled in with the crowd that simply didn't give a shit. The ones who smoked weed after school every day and drank beer our of the cooler in someone's trunk.
I try to remember back to those days and it is just a complete gut check. How would my life have turned out differently if I was part of the scholarly bunch and applied for scholarships to Universities rather than tending bar while going to junior college? I had the aptitude for it, but didn't fit in, so didn't apply myself.
It was so much easier to just hide out by myself or with people too fucked up to care than to face the ridicule and constant nose snubbing of "you aren't good enough".
When Dan launched the It Gets Better project, I spent an entire weekend watching one video after another, back to back, bawling my eyes out. I am not gay, but it spoke VOLUMES to me that it isn't ONLY about being gay - its about kids being dicks and how it can really affect people. Those videos brought up some massive feelings that needed to be dealt with, and while it is something I still carry with me in the deep deep core of my being, they brought healing, and more importantly HOPE.
Gay, straight, bi, trans - I am thrilled this project is out there for these kids to remind them to keep their heads up, that HS is temporary and to go ahead and plan a future with HS in the rear view mirror. Not one for wanting 'do overs' - this is one I would go back and live through all over again and do VERY differently the second time around.
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