A Trip Down Memory Lane…
Friday, 29 January 2010 00:00
This past Wednesday I got the opportunity to go back to my high school (the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute) and speak in chapel about the various things I’d been learning on the road and some of my experiences this year so far.
At first I was excited, because I love my high school and the people inside it and was very pumped to be able to see some of them again. But then I began to remember chapels as a student there, and that’s when the butterflies came. What I remember about being a student, sitting in my chair in the auditorium, was being incredibly critical of everyone on stage. Everyone does this to some level, but for some reason the MBCI crowd seems to be more critical than most.
Wednesday morning on the MBCI stage found me more nervous than I’d ever been on that stage before. I’m not entirely sure why, but here’s a couple guesses.
There’s an expectation when you leave high school that you become wise and knowledgeable, that you change a lot, or perhaps that you grow up overnight. I didn’t feel I had acquired or become any of these things. I felt pretty much the exact same as when I had sat in the seats I was now staring at.
Maybe it was because this time on that stage, I couldn’t find the familiar faces of the people I had graduated with. The people and friends that reassured me I had done a good job, or made light of my mistakes with me were no longer there. I couldn’t search for them in the top rows, and knew they wouldn’t be there to meet me once I got off stage.
But it was interesting. I got on stage, and admitted to all that I had by no means grown up over night, that I hadn’t felt I had changed all that much, and that I was still learning lots and growing up. And when I DID get off stage, there were different people to affirm what I’d done, and positive feedback from students and teachers. So while it was definitely the most nerve wracking experience I’ve had on that stage… it was a good one.
-Jessica