So, Jen during the high school years….
Obviously, I was a geek. A band geek who went to govenor’s school to be more specific. And who also twirled baton… the sad thing is, I realize I probably peaked at 15 years old! Thank goodness that’s when I met David!
So, here’s a few highlighs:

For those of you who were at my wedding, you probably remember a somewhat racy story Amit told about how the first time he met me we went out dancing in the rain and I was wearing a white shirt. Sadly, ’tis true. This is the photographic evidence. This was at the Clinch Valley College summer gov school. I had a wonderful time and was lucky to meet Amit there. Lucky because Amit has been a wonderful friend for half my life now, and also because it was Amit who introduced me to David a few months later. I owe him!

This was taken my senior year before a parade in Vinton, I think. My high school band director, Mr. C, is standing next to me. If anyone doubts that a high school teacher can have a major impact on a student’s life, then you weren’t lucky enough to have a teacher like Mr. C.
One of the absolute highlights of my high school career was my senior year when, due to gov school, I ended up only being able to be in the 8th grade band class. Instead of making me feel bad about it, left out, or penalizing me, Mr. C put me in a position of leadership to help teach the 8th graders to march and to play. I got to conduct the warm-up every day, and I got to conduct the 8th graders in “Carol of the Bells” at the winter concert that year. I met so many wonderful kids that year and still keep in touch with a lot of them.

Here I am at graduation (yes, its a terrible picture, but the only one that’s not in a frame and therefore easier to scan!) with my friends April and Amanda. I was happy when graduation came, I didn’t cry, I was excited to move on to the next part of my life.

I knew I would love college, I’d love the freedom, I’d love the chance to be more independent. I did love those things, but I didn’t count on how hard it would be to go to a school where everyone was smarter, richer, thinner, and prettier than me. I didn’t know how hard it would be to not loose myself in the stress of trying to keep up. I didn’t know how hard it would be to go from being a big fish in a little sea to a little fish in a little sea. (University of Richmond wasn’t that big, after all.) However, I did grow stronger during college. I did become more independent. I did learn a lot about myself and about my true friends.
Looking back, I can appreciate high school more than I ever thought I would. I was lucky to have some amazing relationships (both with boyfriends and friends) that helped me learn a lot, and though I hated not being totally independent and self-sufficient I’m old enough now that I can look back and appreciate the innocence and ease of being 15 year old – without kids, a mortgage, or jobs. I love my life now, I just wish I’d appreciated all I had when I was a teenager. And that is including, but not limited to, the awesome abs I had back then!