High School Days
The Red Sox didn’t make the World Series, but while updating my about page, I came to a startling realization. I went to high school with one of the players. I knew he’d been picked up right out of high school, but I’m not a big baseball fan so I had forgotten. Updating info and adding the blurb about *N Sync made me remember so I started digging the net. I knew he’d gone with Kansas. A little google search landed me in the right spot. I went to school with Johnny Damon, for those of you Sox fans. I think it is so cool. Why? It is fabulous to know that folks from my high school went on to bigger and better things. Of course he was a year ahead of me, but I remember that when he got picked up, it was a major thing at my school.
I’ve always been proud of where I went to high school. Most people look at it as oh yeah, I spent 4 years in that place…thank god it’s over. Sure, we’re all glad to graduate high school, but when I was there it was one of the best schools in the area. Maybe it being new had something to do with it, I don’t know. But I think I will always feel pride at calling Dr Phillips High School one of my alma maters. I wasn’t even in the popular crowd. But with an enrollment of 3,000+, the popular crowd is a very small percentage of the population. I knew them all, we were in all the same classes, but when your upper-middle class going to school in an upper class neighborhood with upper class kids, things get interesting. An ex-boyfriend lived in the same suburb as Shaquille O’Neil.
I remember when they were building the school. Rumors were flying about the style and amenities of the school. Bottled water from the water fountains (yeah right) and 5 swimming pools. The money ran out before they even got one pool built. The swim team practiced at the aquatic center. LOL! But you know us kids, we’d make up all kinds of stories, especially since the school was being built in the upper class area of Orlando. We did have some fun times though. When Hurricane Andrew blew out south Florida at the beginning of my senior year, we lent the gymnasium and student parking lot to the evacuees. Us poor, poor students had to park at Universal Studios and walk over. Granted it was only across the street but us lowly seniors felt we were being denied our long awaited priviledge of our own parking space. Each senior spot had a paw print and whatever 5 letters we wanted painted on. I laugh now at how snotty that was, but back then it was a major deal.
We also hosted practice for the Chicago Bulls when they came to town to play the Orlando Magic team. That made big news at our school. Of course I didn’t get to see any players, the gym was off-limits, but the school’s news team did a segment on it.
