School
I got attention by being funny at school, pretending to be retarded, and jumping around with a deformed hand.
High school dropouts are forfeiting their opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
I had great relationship with the Hispanic — we had a lot of Hispanics in the school actually from different countries, Venezuela, from Brazil, and they all played soccer, and I was on the soccer team, and I developed great relationships with them.
When I was four, we had to choose a musical instrument to play at school, and I chose the cello. I played until I was 18, and although I found it nerve-racking to play solo, I loved playing in an orchestra. When I left school I didn't carry on with it, which I regret.
I used to cheerlead in high school, and I had the biggest crush on one of my teammates' brothers. I was a great tumbler, so when he showed up at practice one day, I tried to impress him, but I ended up landing on my face! When I got off the ground, I had rug burn on my nose. I was in tears because it hurt so bad!
Honestly, I wasn't that girl in high school who people spread rumors about.
I was a very good student. Procrastinating gives me anxiety, and getting a B really ticked me off. Sure, I didn't always want to do my homework, but I actually really liked school. As nerdy as it sounds, I love learning.
I count myself well educated, for the admirable woman at the head of the school which I attended from the age of four and a half till I was thirteen and a half, was a born teacher in advance of her own times.
After high school, I was going to move out to L.A. and try to pursue my dreams of acting. My parents said, 'That's fine. We support you, but you have to go to school', which was fine because I'm a studious person anyway; I enjoy it.
Most of the time I was in grammar school through high school, I was in some kind of rock n' roll band. I would say that at least 80 percent of my energy was involved with whatever band I was involved in.
My education was paid for by the RAF Benevolent Fund, so a charity school, run like an orphanage, with uniforms and beatings. It was tough, but it got me to Cambridge — like being a chrysalis suddenly becoming a butterfly.
My local newspaper, the 'Bend Bulletin', interviewed me while I was at high school after I had just signed with the University of Oregon. I remember I wore a University of Oregon hooded sweatshirt, and they took a picture of me in the long jump pit. I was freezing!
School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn. Math is just the worst. To this day, I can't concentrate on it. People always say, 'You should have tried harder'. But actually, I cheated a lot because I could not sit and do homework.
My family moved to Aspen, Colorado, where we had 'Avalanche Danger' days that kept us from going to school, climbed 14,000-foot peaks as part of my education, and I learned to snowboard.
I remember from my school days Archimedes jumping into his bath and displacing water and coming up with his famous principle, and of course Isaac Newton being hit on the head with an apple. In other words, this realm of human knowledge — which is mathematical, essentially — can have a playful visual element to it.
I've always been really ambitious, whatever I do. At school, I always wanted to be the best in the class — no, it wasn't enough to be the best in the class, I'd want to be the best in the country.
My freshman year at Harrison High School, I saw a journalism class where students were putting out a weekly newspaper. It touched a responsive chord in me.
I live a very normal life. I have friends, and I've always gone to school. The part that's not normal is that I've been working since I was 9 months old, but at the same time, it's completely normal to me.
For too long, our society has shrugged off bullying by labeling it a 'rite of passage' and by asking students to simply 'get over it'. Those attitudes need to change. Every day, students are bullied into silence and are afraid to speak up. Let's break this silence and end school bullying.
I was pretty sure I lacked the wisdom to be the commencement speaker, but after stewing over the idea for about 48 hours, I decided that if the senior class at the University of Wisconsin wants me to come speak, I'll do whatever they ask me. I love that school.
Loading ...