Remember Those Junior High Years

I am sure most of us have tried to forget or do not remember those Junior High School years. It has been a long time ago for me so I feel those years were a different life time.

I do remember a few things during that period of my life. Most of us guys were either  short or too tall and we were very uncomfortable about it all. In seventh grade I was actually average height however I did most of my growing in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. It took a little while for some students and teachers to recognize who I was.

In those years we are discovering girls as well as ourselves. Also, it was a time we felt that we were becoming men and no longer being boys which was the farthest from the truth. I remember so often that other boys wanted to fight or at least pick on me. I didn’t want to have any part of it at all. I really wasn’t much of a fighter however I did keep myself in a position where I did not get hurt either. One of the ridiculous things was almost every day a couple guys would want to fight up on the ball field during the lunch hour. They would make an arrangement earlier in the day to do so however when the time came both would chicken out in front of the crowd so no fight would happen.  A day finally came when a boy asked me to fight up on the ball field at noon. I told him I really did not want to because no one actually did any fighting so if we were going to fight we must do it right now. He decided not to fight me at all. You see I was willing to fight though I knew no one else would do so.

In junior high I was on the basketball team. It was one of the only few sport teams going on at the school and by far was the most popular. I figured it was a good thing especially with the girls. The problem was I spent most of the time on the bench and only played if the game was a blow out. The coach eventually came to me for a pep talk. He said he knew that I was frustrated in not playing very much however I was only one of twelve guys in my class to be on the team and a lot of other guys would trade places with me. He was right in one respect but I was competitive and I wanted to be on the basketball floor not on the bench. The other thing is those who were just ahead of me playing more than me in my mind not any better than me. I was fast and I had a good outside shot. The problem was I did not go to the basket very well; the coach was looking for that kind of player. Also I was a streak shooter so I either scored a lot of points in a short period of time or none at all.

In junior high the most important thing at least in my mind was being popular and I certainly was not. I wasn’t at the bottom but not very far away for sure. There was one guy Randy who I was glad not to be in his shoes. You see Randy was smart far as being a student however he was not so when it came to dealing with other boys. He was teased a lot and he would carry all his books to class though most of them he could have kept in his locker. The other boys knew he carried all those books so on purpose they would run into Randy where all of them go flying around the hallway. I really felt bad for Randy so if I had the time I would help him gather up his books. The biggest problem though the other boys would run into him all over again. I finally told Randy that he should keep all those books in his locker but he did not listen to me. On the positive side it stopped happening to Randy when we reached high school. I am not sure what happened to Randy however I do know that he became very successful and left all the other boys behind. In junior high Randy was the prime example why I am glad those days were brief.  

I know that I have a few other stories however I have decided to leave it at that for now. I am sure I will revisit those junior high days in the future if I remember. Also, I am sure the kids who are in junior high or middle school now are going through the same thing.