ACTUAL CONVERSATION:

Random student: “It’s so great you came back! What year did you graduate?”

Me: “1994”

Random student: “Oh…1994 is the year I was born! Cool!”

Me: DYING…..

Now – repeat this conversation about 300 times and that was my Friday night back at my high school.

While I felt like an old lady walking the halls, it was amazing to be back.

That high school is Glenbrook North in Northbrook, Illinois. That would be the home to this amazing movie:

This actual scene is filmed at the CPA – the Center for Performing Arts. So you know, we’re kind of famous. But then it dawned on my that none of these kids were around when they filmed the movie – but I WAS! Well, I was at the middle school across the street, but I still watched it!

The high school itself has always been pretty amazing. We are home to Ferris Bueller (John Hughes attended our high school), I went to school with Chris Collins (Duke basketball star and now Northwestern Bball head coach) and we’re always ranked at the top of the state for academics. (Side note: One of my favorites from 30 Rock also went to my high school….Scott Adsit, who played Pete!!) Not a bad place at all. I just can’t get over how much better it is now since when I was there!!!

I was speaking with one junior who was telling me the story of how she got into radio….”I was doing game design, but they were all guys and I just didn’t love it, so I thought I’d try this.” Ummm…game design?? In high school?!?! WOW.

I was there for a reunion of sorts. The Radio & TV Broadcasting groups were continuing an annual tradition, started by my sister, of a radiothon to benefit children’s cancer research. It was the 20th anniversary, so they were inviting alumni back to participate. Well, I’m always looking for a good excuse to head to Chicago, so I was there!

First, we drove around our town and checked out our old house….it was sad.

There are no words to describe the feeling when you are sitting outside of a place where you know every since of…yet you are not allowed to go in. That’s my house…
We drove around and looked at houses of old friends, most of which have been ripped down to put up some McMansion. The place has changed a lot, yet it is still so much the same.

After that, parked in the back where we were used to parking, and were blown away walking through the school. The nasty pool was replaced with this state-of-the-art aquatic facility.

AND…while then I turned the corner and saw this….

A SPIN ROOM! My high school now has a spin room? Where was that when I was a student? I had to take weight training and classes where I learned pickle ball. I literally didn’t even know what spin class was until I asked my friend in about 2006. I literally thought it was a class where people spin…like in circles. I’m so jealous.

And then it was a trip to the band room. This has also been moved and is now totally amazing! The old one has no windows and BIG lockers that you could…and we would…put people inside. The new one is almost all glass into a private courtyard and has no lockers. Those are in a different room and look like animal cages.

Then, it was off to see the old Broadcasting wing. I was very lucky to attend a school with a radio/television program. I knew it’s what I always wanted to do. I seemed to be the only person in my high school who knew exactly where I wanted to work…in television news. I’m not sure why exactly, but I just knew that it was my destiny. Well, that’s not exactly true. Let me tell you a story…

In 8th grade, I had this amazing teacher named Mr. Blond. He taught “applied arts” – which basically was wood-shop. He has since passed away due to Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which is terribly sad because he was an amazing teacher…and amazing man. But anyway…he once made us write a paper about what you wanted to be when you grew up.

At the time, I was completely obsessed with Days of Our Lives. Like, TOTALLY OBSESSED. Characters were plastered all over my book covers, I recorded the show daily on the VCR and would watch it each night. Well, I decided I wanted to be a soap opera star. So I wrote my paper all about that. Apparently I also didn’t proof read it because I wrote, “I want to be on a tv when I grow up.” Mr. Blond drew a little girl stick figure next to it standing on top of a television. So that’s what I remember.

So when I was started looking at high school classes, I saw that they had a television class. The logical part of my head said…”well, theater is for people who want to be on the stage, I would assume television is for people who want to be on tv.” And that was that. I took the class, LOVED IT…and soon realized I wanted nothing to do with actually being ON camera. I began stalking Chicago television reporters/anchors and the rest is really history.

This is my television teacher, Mr. Pinelli. He has retired, but is working now at a school in Chicago as the theater head. He was really responsible for my entire career and was so encouraging and even let me do my own projects where I was encouraged to stalk Chicago reporters.

And then there’s this crazy lady, Ms. H. (she’s the one in the middle.) See that sign behind us…Sass Master? That pretty much describes her. She started teaching while I was a sophomore. She’s amazing, so funny and looks exactly the same as she did 20 years ago. I do wish I lived closer just so I could hang out with her more – so much fun.

I also got the chance to see one of my favorite people in the whole world, Sully. She’s also a teacher at Glenbrook North and one of the people made me who I am today. Now, there’s no photo of her because I really didn’t expect to see her…AND I only got to see her for a short time. However, so very happy it happened..it was fate. So now we are back-in-touch and I expect to fully catch up with her soon.

So many memories for just one day. Now, I’m pretty sure my dreams are going to be all screwed up at night. I have so many dreams about the old house and high school. But seeing it all different…what will that do to my brain?

Have you been back to your high school since graduation? Was it totally weird? Am I just the weird one?