Chapter 15

High School - The Junior Year

So this is it. The junior year - the last shebang (so far). Ah, the memories (gee, that’s great Jeremy - why don’t you tell us about them?). Okay. I suppose it is once again logical to start at the beginning. The junior year brought great expectations. First of all, we were now in the Upper Classmen range, so we felt cool again. And secondly, it brought us all those classes that we’d heard all of the older students complaining about the year before. And it also came with our own ticket to prom. So, shall we begin?

School started in the fall, as always. And so did football. This was my second year for the Clear Creek Amana Clipper football team. It was also the most fun. Though going from JV the year before, and having a record of (5-4), it was a switch, because we won two games this year. But we had been moved into a very difficult district, perhaps the best one in the state (for 2A). Most of all though, we had fun; especially at homecoming, when I shaved my chest, leaving the letters

CCA

98

clearly imprinted. Boy those afternoon activities were fun...but time, as usual, went on, and soon football season was over.

Shortly thereafter I began working on the fall play: Count Dracula. Gosh that was fun, but it was also different, for a couple of reasons. First, it was our first show with our new director, Bradley Workman-Goltz. And second, we didn’t have all of the drama regulars in the show, due to all state choir. It was a good show, however, and everyone was happy. After Dracula, I had a break for a couple of weeks, and then came audition time for the spring musical, Li’l Abner. I auditioned, and got my 4th part out of 5 shows. I was given the part of Earthquake McGoon, the small town local bad-guy, who was basically fighting Abner for Daisy Mae throughout the show, but in the end, he relinquished his hold. Another fine show, my favorite one to be a part of too.

Soon after auditions, shortly after Christmas Break, I began toying the idea of going out for wrestling. I don’t know, it always seemed like such a fun sport, it’s individual, you determine your record. So I thought I’d give it a shot. After three weeks of practice and dropping 11 pounds to make it into the heavyweight bracket of 190-275lbs, I told coach Stone that I was ready. I just happened to be ready in time to wrestle the Williamsburg dual. Keelan Driscol was a heavyweight. He went to Williamsburg. He was also ranked 3rd in the state. I knew I was dog chow. But I also knew that I was going to have a difficult opponent sometime, so I went anyway. I made it to 1:36. That was good. But I improved a little, and at sectionals, I got to wrestle one person, lost, and won the consolation bracket (5th place) just because no one else made it to the consolation bracket. The other guy got 3rd. And so ended my wrestling season. But my personal record was (1-2) anyway, because I received a forfeit from Regina. Lucky me huh?

When wrestling ended, so did Li’l Abner. And so began speech.

I was able to go to large group and individual speech this year. In large group, my readers theater of Winnie the Pooh made it to state and got the ratings 1, 1, and 2. So an overall 1. My improvisation group also made it to state, but only received 2, 2, and 3. A two. This was supposed to be my vindication year, after being disqualified at state individual speech last year. I went to districts and got ones in both improvisation and public address, which was the same public address that I was disqualified for the previous year. The only problem arose when I could not go to state because of a conflict with a trip to Spain - guess what? I went to Spain.

I took a two-week school sponsored trip to Spain with my Spanish teacher, Julie Meister. The first week (over spring break) we toured around. We went to Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Cordoba, Grenada, and Valencia. This was fun, but the second week, you couldn’t even compare the two. The second week was the family stay. Each one of us stayed with a Spanish family for the whole week. We just did what they did. Lived how they lived, and had a blast doing it. That trip was the most fun I’d ever had in my entire life. I cried for a long time the day we had to leave our families. And that day I vowed I would return. But first I had to go home, they made me.

When I got home, I found out a couple of different things. First, the week after I came home, my parents sold our last of two Donutlands, which we had had at least one of since 1991. So my father needed a new job. There was a really good offer from a place in Cedar Rapids, so I was told we were moving up there, just in time for my senior year. I was upset at first, but as time went on, what was happening just seemed more and more right. So I went willingly. And the following year, I would not be with the friends I had known for five.

All in all, it was a good experience, the one I had at Clear Creek Amana. Sure it had ups and downs, as well as a rocky start, but I had grown to like it. To like the people, to know real friendship for the first time in my life. That is what I took with me - friendship and love, and of course, memories.