Chapter 29: Nerd without a Herd

My mother was horrified that I might not graduate with my class. For her, keeping me under her roof for an extra year was not an option. My mother, stepfather, school principal and the guidance department put a quick plan together. I didn’t get a vote.

They created a schedule which had me graduating more or less with my class. I was to make up my wasted year by taking one extra general studies class each semester instead of a study period. The extra classes along with summer school would provide barely enough credits to graduate with the class of 1966.

According to the plan, I would start the next year as a recycled freshman and the following year. I would start as a sophomore and morph into a junior at the mid-year mark. In the final year, I would officially become a senior.

I would be a horse of a different color. I was a nerd without a herd.

Isolating myself from my peers, I buried my nose in a book at every opportunity. The net result was I became book smart while developing all the social skills of a troll living under a bridge.

Back in the day, the scholastic social pyramid was a several tier affair. Students studying for the trades occupied the bottom layer. They spent half the day in school mastering the three Rs and the other half in shop learning basic machine skills. They were a league unto themselves.

A handful of advanced placement students who were in college level courses occupied the top of the pyramid. They were the academic darlings of high school and thus were shunned by nearly everyone.

Just below them, with the best teachers and the best textbooks, were the college studies students laboring away at algebra, trigonometry, chemistry and biochemistry along with Latin and other exotic languages. I had just flunked out of the first year’s college studies program.

The next layer was my new home. It was a zoo made up of general studies students. Essentially, it was a warehouse reserved for kids without the aptitude for a trade or the academic skills necessary for college. The dropout rate for that group was sky high.

Most of the girls who dropped out gave birth within six months of leaving school. Do the math.