Old School Ties

I went to the wedding of a friend from high school today, and I carpooled there with another friend from high school and her husband and three (adorable) kids, the oldest of which is 7 and a half. It is odd to me that people I graduated with have been married for ten or more years at this point. Maybe it is because the people I went to college with, at least my close friends, are mostly not married. While at the wedding, I sat with another friend from high school who was married (now not) and has two kids, the oldest being 7. At least one of my close friends from high school has a ten year old daughter and most of my graduating class are married and most of them have kids. I also saw my geometry teacher from high school. I had him as a teacher 13 years ago, but he doesn't look a bit different than he did when I was 16. I was never sure if he liked me or not. I liked geometry better than any other math class I ever took, but had a huge battle with theorems, and never did understand how to do them. I am sure that I was a challenge, because I know he explained them over and over, but I just didn't get them. As a teacher now, I think he must have dreaded seeing me come in for tutoring during lunch. In fact, now that I am a teacher, I sometimes wonder what kind of student I was? I know what kind of student I was fr0m my own perspective as a student, but I wonder what category I would have put me in if I was the teacher of me? I think I would have been one of those middle-of-the-pack kids who do well in school, but are a little obnoxious sometimes. I think I would have been a challenge in certain classes with some of my friends, and in fact I can remember certain classes that I am sure I was on the teacher's "blacklist" while I was in that class. Looking back, I wish I would have done things differently - played basketball for one, worked a little harder in math and Spanish, been a little more involved in the extracurricular stuff. But all in all, I guess I turned out ok, which gives me hope for some of my kids. I guess all I can do right now is give them the best instruction I can, love them to the best of my ability, pray for the wisdom to give them what they need from me, and pass them on to their next step in life.