Keep The Customer Satisfied

High school is supposed to be one of the most life-changing times in a young person’s life. And I didn’t believe it until recently. I’m a senior now, and that means senior banquet, prom, graduation, and senioritis. But it also means preparing for college, saying your goodbyes, and getting ready to leave. Has high school prepared me for that? Not to say that I’m unprepared, but I feel that high school has both helped and harmed my development.

I moved to Alameda the summer before freshman year. While not one of the stereotypically “popular” kids at my middle school, I was well-known and well-liked. I developed very high self-esteem, something that would be viciously torn down throughout my freshman year, as I realized that although I had a previously established group of friends here, the general majority of this school regarded me as just another freshman. The destroying of my self-esteem was further destroyed by the breakup of my first girlfriend and I. While it was not even a remotely messy breakup, I had never experienced that sort of hurt, and combined with the collective hatred aimed at my freshman status, I was smashed flat.

Soon afterwards, however, I slowly began to piece myself back together. Now, I firmly believe that people can be smart without being intelligent, and they can be intelligent without being smart. Our class valedictorian has devoted years to getting good grades, and while I respect that, I don’t think they’re very intelligent, because I fear all the time they spent focused on schoolwork has stunted their social growth. Likewise, while I have had to repeat a class in summer school, and my grades haven’t been perfect since the 5th grade, I think of myself as an intelligent human being; one who can think for himself, make his way in the world without knowing Calculus or Physics, but rather one who knows the things that are more likely to affect you, like what not to say in certain company or how to win friends and influence people. But I digress. I looked around the halls of this hallowed institution and saw just how legitimately stupid the people around me were. So what if they spent a year calling me names? I’d be the one laughing when I read their names in the police blotter in the newspaper. While they cracked jokes and scraped the bottom of the proverbial barrel, I slowly matured into a well-rounded, intelligent, funny and personable student, and now I feel like a completely different person than I was then. I have extremely high self-esteem and self-worth, and I know that I can and will do whatever I set my mind to.

When a class or project interests me, I become incredibly enthusiastic. For example, I’m not a history buff, but the topics discussed in my government class this year interested me enough to quickly boost my usually average grade to a 106% A+ [Author’s Note: Since the time of this writing, the grade has been slightly lowered due to a few missed points on a couple tests. My bad.]. I’m completely enamored with the music department, being one of the most dedicated musicians in the school jazz band, and I don’t slack off. I always volunteer to solo, even on the most difficult of songs, and I’ve been named leader of the guitar section. I’m also extremely active in the drama department, having participated in shows throughout my entire high school career. I take the arts very seriously, and it upsets me deeply to see somebody take an art class for an easy A.

The name “Jason” is Greek for “healer,” and they say that laughter is the best medicine. I strive to be one of the funniest people around, and I feel that I’ve come close. Personality-wise, I try to be well-liked or at least tolerated. I don’t expect everyone to like me, but I don’t want to give anybody a reason to dislike me. I’m always willing to try new things, and I never insult someone to their face. People often come to me for advice, or if they just want someone to talk to who will listen. I like to think I’ve emerged from my cocoon of prepubescent awkwardness and transformed to a graceful social butterfly.

At this point, I’m sure it has become painfully obvious that I’ve taken to self-gratification in this essay. But does one really expect me to write all about my negative qualities? Do you, my dear reader, really want to hear about all the things about myself I dislike? Likewise, I doubt that spending this whole essay talking about how amazing I am would bore you to tears. I admit that I am not the greatest person on earth, but should anyone ever spend more than a brief moment thinking about their insecurities? I should say not. Over the past few months, I have developed a more optimistic approach to life, and I’ve found that harboring on the bad things doesn’t make them go away. They do say that ignorance is bliss, and that is true, to an extent. I don’t believe that anything bad should be ignored, because there will always be bad people and bad problems, and turning a blind eye is not the solution. But the little things that bother you in your day-to-day routine shouldn’t be given more than a passing glance before they’re removed from your mental periphery.

But, again, I digress. The purpose of this essay was to reflect on how high school has shaped me into the person I am today. And that person is a good person. That person has talent, drive, perseverance, high standards, and that person will go places. And I feel that what I’ve written on these pieces of paper are reflective of that. The key word is reflection. This was not a memoir of the last almost four years. This was me, Jason, talking to you, the reader, reflecting.

jonthecaveman:

guitarmanjb:

It should be here by Tuesday.

About fucking time.

Tonight sucked. But at least I got out of work early.

dude im real happy for you,and jealous haha.so is it gonna be cd’s or lps?

It’s the remastered CDs. I already have about half of the albums on CD, but they’re from when they were originally released in the ’80s. I’m damn excited to hear them all remastered, especially A Hard Day’s Night and Abbey Road.

It should be here by Tuesday.

About fucking time.

Tonight sucked. But at least I got out of work early.

Or is it?

I don’t know. Every time I get scheduled to work, I groan and grumble, and in the hours before my shift starts, I dread work. The idea of it knots my stomach.

But then I get there and I’m fine. The hours [usually] pass quickly enough, and then I clock out and leave.

But for some reason, tonight feels like it’s going to last forever. If I can’t switch shifts with someone, I won’t leave until after midnight. I had a show last night and school today, and I have two shows tomorrow.

Let’s just hope I survive tonight.

[It’s a vicious circle. I get free movies if I work. But if I quit, I wouldn’t mind paying for the movies because I have money. But I wouldn’t have the money if I quit. And I love movies.]