There’s going to be a little blurb about me in our local newspaper. For some reason, I’m freaking out about it. Each year, the newspaper chooses a group of local high school seniors to honor for their academic accomplishments. Those students, in turn, get to honor a teacher or faculty member that has inspired them, along the way. Parents, students and teachers attend a nice dinner and a picture and profile of each student is published in one of the Sunday editions. The paper also does a “Where are they, now?” type of update on the students profiled ten years ago. This year, it will be ten years since I was honored as a local kid who did well on her ACT.
Why do I feel like my update is going to be one that people read and think, “Huh. She turned out to not be so great, after all.” You know people do that. My mom and I have done that, and she’d the nicest person in the world! Personally, I feel pretty successful. I’ve accomplished many of the goals I set out for myself when I was 18. I have a college degree, a career in my field, a professional certification, my own house, etc. I’m a bona fide adult who contributes to her society, you know?
However, I fear that my little inch of the Local section of an upcoming Sunday paper will read more like, “Local girl went to college, then came home. The end.” Well, you know what? One of the areas that my state really excels in is educating talented kids who, somewhere between the summer abroad and the hometown wedding, realize that there’s a bigger world out there. We pay tax dollars to fund public universities with excellent law, medical and engineering programs only to have the students who benefit from them leave the state to take more lucrative jobs in large metropolitan areas. I’m the result of some pretty hard personal work to land a scholarship at a private university. I didn’t use those tax dollars, but I’m reinvesting in my state by staying here to be a productive member of society.
I’m protesting too much, aren’t I? A little whiny? Well, I didn’t say I was perfect.
All that silly ranting aside, I’m happy with my life and 97% of me doesn’t care a bit what the readers of my hometown paper think of my accomplishments in the past ten years. That 3%, though, is doing a number, today.
The reporter asked if I’d be willing to submit a picture for inclusion. That kind of freaks me out because I don’t want to be the only one with a photo and look like a goody two-shoes or something. But, I just might send one of these:
That last one might look innocuous enough, but just out of the crop I’m doing my best Vanna White impression with a Sam Adams. I wish I had the balls to put the first one in. I’m betting they wouldn’t publish it, though.
