2 decades ago today, I graduated from McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.
I wrote much about the experience of graduation day, as well as being in high school in my one-decade anniversary blog post that I have written back in 2009
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-years-ago-today.html
I also wrote more about my high school experience in this blog post titled "Myself 2 decades ago" post on 9/1/2015 which was 2 decade anniversary of starting high school
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/09/myself-2-decades-ago.html
Also, some of my fun memories of high school were also listed (among other memories from different phases of life) in this post http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-double-3-years.html
Our reunion is coming up on June 29th at the Dave & Busters, just a few blocks south of the campus.
I still visit the campus over the years. I did substitute teach a few times on the campus, though I never got called to work on the campus as often as I'd like to.
I also visit the campus for the annual book sale sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hawaii. (note: it's happening again from June 22-30 this year. Be there!)
And on some weekends, I might bike around the campus :)
OF course, a lot of things changed since my graduation!
Since then, we had the Tiger Stripes painted on the makai side of the gym and a new track & field. Unfortunately, they still haven't installed stadium seats near that field, so our football team still have to use other school's stadiums to play "home games".
The administration building was renovated during my time there. Now, the "W building" is being renovated!
Outside the cafeteria now has more benches outside in the front, giving more students places to sit outside. (note: the cafeteria is too small to seat all the students, plus some students like to eat outside in the fresh air.)
Enrollment has declined at the school. When I subbed at the campus, I noticed a lot more empty space during recess as compared to when I was in high school. Much of the decline in enrollment is due to the population shift away from the urban core and towards the suburbs of the west & central parts of Oʻahu. There are more luxury condos being built near the school so that might give some population boost, but most likely not enough to make enrollment as high as it used to be.
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The world has also changed in major ways since I graduated high school.
I graduated right before the start of the new millennium. Y2K was coming. The way of life for millions was about to change.
For example, when I was in high school, the internet was starting to become mainstream but I didn't even use it on a regular basis until I started college. So basically, my whole life before graduating high school was in a mostly analog world, whereas my adult life was in a mostly digital world!
So basically any research you did had to involve books, magazines, and newspapers. I was basically a bookworm, reading a whole bunch of books about social studies in the library every morning before classes started. Google? That company didn't exist when I started high school (1995) and when I graduated, Google was still a relatively small-time startup overshadowed by Yahoo and America On-Line.
When you finished high school at my time, you really thought you'll never have any contact with much of your classmates again. Facebook didn't even exist yet. In fact, Myspace didn't even exist yet.
And whatever was on TV, you had to be sitting in front of it when it airs or you'll never see it! YouTube still didn't exist yet!
When it comes to enjoying recorded music, my high school years were part of the CD era. It was only a few months after I graduated from high school when Napster caused a major transition in how people accessed music.
In fact, the Blogger site that I'm using right now to write this blog post only started to exist 2 months after high school. I didn't even know about the existence of blogs when I finished high school. It was still that underground.
Smartphones? What was that? Yes, we already had cell phones (I didn't have one yet), but they were only useful for calling people. No text, no camera, no filming, no sharing articles or watching videos on those phones.
Email already existed and it was slowly becoming part of mainstream life, but I didn't start using it until I was in college.
Education has definitely changed since then. In schools these days, nearly every class has a laptop (or an iPad) for every student. Depending on the grade level, tech-savvy of the teacher or the income of the community, much of the assignment are typed on the computer. Standardized tests are now done on the computer (in my days, they were all done with paper and pencil). Digital eye strain is definitely something affecting these kids that we have to nag them to take a break and go outside for some fresh air once in a while.
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As for my life in high school compared to life after high school......
Obviously, adulthood comes with more responsibilities. I have to now pay my own bills, and in order to do that, I had to develop a more mature attitude. This is magnified by the fact that I am working in the school system in which I am expected to be a role model.
When I was in high school, I was thinking about multiple career possibilities: judge, prosecutor, high school teacher, bus driver, rapper, record label executive.
Obviously, people's interests change as time goes on.
Prosecutors tend to be the hammer that thinks every problem is a nail. No thanks! Bus driver? I still haven't even learned to drive a car, much less drive something bigger. And talking about cars, I once fantasized about getting a lowrider (and bought a few copies of Lowrider Magazine), my years as an adult without much money made me realize that I don't really need a car.
As for teaching, I faded away from that dream during college, but then I needed a job after college, so I became a substitute teacher. I did it for 13 years. Be a full-time teacher? I did seriously consider it for a while, but I really don't want the stress.
Rapper and record label executive? My music dreams faded for a while, but now I'm focusing on making instrumental tracks with computer software that wasn't yet widely available to the masses back when I was in high school. Making recorded music in those days required expensive studio equipment. Decades later, you just need a computer and some software you can buy online. And now some schools offer classes in making electronic music. I am so jealous of the new generation!
But it was a part-time job that I started a few months after high school that led me to the job I have now. That would be library work. I was considering applying for part-time jobs at the public library when I was in high school, but I didn't start until a few months after high school. I had a few part-time library jobs while in college. But then I wasn't doing library work for years until I seriously considered going back to Library-Land and pursue full-time librarianship. Long story short, I am currently a middle school librarian!
As you may have noticed, my life since high school did not go in a straight line!
Because my life since high school didn't go in a straight line, I struggled with self-doubt about what direction I should be taking in life.
This year, I can honestly say there is more clarity. No longer am I searching for a full-time library job because I have one now. I might search for a higher paying library position in the future (most likely in the public library or the university), but at least now I have a launching pad to rise up the ranks in Library-Land!
My music career? I came back to the dream in 2016 by releasing music under my stage name Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior. Now, I have 3 instrumental albums and 5 stand-alone instrumental singles. I'm working on my next instrumental album and hoping for a credit line increase to pay the distribution costs. No major hits yet, but at least I have a catalog that the public can access via stream or download. As for vocal tracks, I'm not ready. I really want to put out more instrumental tracks before I dedicate time to make vocal tracks.
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Now, I'm waiting for the upcoming reunion later this month to hear what my former classmates are up to. Some I know are having great careers and great adventures. Others might still be struggling with self-doubt and are facing a midlife crisis. Either way, it would be good to network again and lift each other's spirits.
