who were you in high school?

why am i posting about high school? well i had a “woah moment” when someone brought to my attention today that i am now 5 years removed from my high school days. i know 5 isn’t that many, but … how did that happen?

in high school, i was every definition of a “hot mess”. urban dictionary defines it as: “Someone that is such a mess… the level of it, is off of the charts.” if the term “hot mess” had been around when i was in high school, it would have been my nickname. i had this ungodly long, curly brown hair with zero shape. i had zero sense of fashion, wearing clothes that were too big for me.

looks aside, i was not what you would call popular. not in the least. not cool. not sociable. lousy student. i was the drama girl. the music girl. the art girl. the photographer girl. the journalism girl. i kept to myself. the only time i talked to “popular people” was to get quotes and stats for the yearbook. i was (in public) an unbelievably committed and annoying Christian… (don’t forget – behind closed doors i was a totally different person). a person unable to give or show love. suicidal.

frankly, i just didn’t care enough about myself or anyone else, to try very hard.

since high school and somewhere along the way, that all changed. i embraced this awkward, artsy girl inside of me. i cut my hair. actually bought a hair dryer & straightener. dyed it. began using hair product. tattoos. nose rings. graphic design became “my thing”. writing. web geek. actually found a love affair with Christ. genuine friendships. became open about my troubled past. and came into my own… which thankfully is not conforming to anyone’s idea but my own. oh and i like pictures of myself a whole lot better in black & white.

this post became more than what i thought it would. really, i just wanted to ask the fun question, “who were you in high school?” the geek, the jock, the teacher’s pet, etc. but i guess there’s more to it now.

who WERE you then? who ARE you now? same, different, better, worse? what the heck happened?

TRIVIA:
Guess who this is in the pic with me… :)

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If you need help figuring out who you were…
take this quiz.

By Crystal Renaud

Crystal Renaud is the Founder & Executive Director of WHOLE Women Ministries whose projects include Dirty Girls Ministries and WHOLE Women’s Conference. She is also the author of Dirty Girls Come Clean (Moody Publishers), a speaker and student who lives in the Kansas City area. Follow @crystalrenaud on Twitter and visit her website for info on coaching and speaking at http://crystalrenaud.com.

8 comments

  1. Here’s a pic of me from high school –

    I was a nerd. In the AP classes. I was also in choir and just wanted to fit in. I moved towards the end of my sophomore year of high school and everyone already had their friends and cliques and I never felt like I really fit in. I wouldn’t want to repeat high school again, you couldn’t pay me enough to do that.

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  2. That’s Flowerdust.

    Yup.

    And in high school, I was one of those people who just stayed under the radar. Had “cool” friends and “nerdy” friends and “preppy” friends and “goth” friends.

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  3. I’m, uh, a few more years removed from high school than you. That said, I was decent in a few sports, but really excelled at music. I didn’t really fit into any one clique, but I got along with everybody reasonably well.

    What the heck happened? I was raised in a reasonably stable environment, so my two divorces have kinda thrown me for a loop. Professionally I’ve done pretty well, but I think I could have done more with my music than what I have. My personal life was definitely off track for a long time, but things are clicking pretty well now.

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  4. I am 19 years removed from high school. Dear Lord.

    I was an athlete while in high school and had a million friends.

    While I never went off the deep end, I did make choices I’m not proud of. I’d say I’m much better off today.

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  5. I’ll let you know next week. :]

    but i’m the academic (mostly) bookie photographer master of excel who talks to most everyone and despises math-physics included.

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  6. High school. So glad that was over. Never fit in. Ate many lunches by myself.

    So yeah. I have changed and definitely for the better.

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  7. I took the quiz and it said I was an “All American Kid”, which is pretty much right. Back in high school I was timid about embracing some of my interests in front of others but now I feel a whole lot more free to be myself and bask in my creativity.

    I’m not focused on impressing the “popular” people of life, now I rather spend my time connecting with interesting people who are similar to me and don’t care about fitting into any label.

    The one thing that hasn’t changed is that I still love Jesus! And that grows more with each new year.

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