Leaving Our Mark

News came to AVPA in January 2005 that the school would be moving back to the mothership. We would no longer be part of BHS, but we would instead join the other Academies in the larger vocational school that Fall. This was great news for some, and distressing news for others. I was somewhere in the middle. I didn’t like BHS, but I knew going to a totally different school would require more adaption. One positive thing about the move for me was that the new location was much closer to my hometown. One negative thing was that we would no longer be “those f*cking Academy kids” because everyone in the school would be an Academy kid (the only difference being the field we were studying). On the whole, I was more excited than anything for a change of the scenery.

The news roused a lot of debate between kids, parents, teachers, and the school board. Some tried their earnest to protest the move, but their efforts failed in the end. The last month of my sophomore year was spent helping to pack up boxes and prepare for the great migration. One memorable thing we did as a class was to write all over a white board. We signed signatures, quotes quips, and jotted jokes in the name of saying goodbye to the old ways and hello to a new adventure.

QOD: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

The Letter

The majority of all my favorite memories happened during high school. For most kids, high school is one of those experiences they wish to forget. But for me, high school was the best time of my life. What I believe has most do to with my love of high school was the fact that I didn’t go to a “normal” high school. I went to The Academy for Visual & Performing Arts (AVPA), a vocational school with an intensive focus on the arts.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May 2003, I beat out my sister in going get the mail. I ran to the mailbox, opened the door, and flipped through the mail as I usually did while standing in the street. I saw a letter addressed to my parents from AVPA. I froze as I stared at the return address. I walked back into the house with the letter grasped firmly in my right hand. I tossed the rest of the mail onto the pile on my mom’s desk.

My mom sees that I’m holding the letter and asks, “What’s that?”

I don’t say a word, but I dash into my bedroom and close the door behind me. I knew that this was it: either I would go to the local high school with my friends from middle school or it would be the start of a whole new adventure. I ripped open the letter and started furiously scanning the text. The first word that stuck out to me was, “Congratulations!” A thrill of excitement shot through my entire body.

At this point, my mom was knocking on my door trying to figure out what was going on. I don’t remember what happened the rest of the day. But I somehow knew back then that this was one of those crucial, game-changing moments of my life.