An Exercise in Nostalgia

You know, senior yearbook quotes can reveal a lot about a person.

In my high school, the seniors had the most detailed portion of the yearbook. Unlike the under classmen who had all of their images squeezed onto a double page spread like so many sardines, our photos were laid out three per page, so we could include a list of all our extracurricular activities, our signatures and a quote of our own choosing.

People pulled activities out the woodwork. I’m convinced some even made them up. My own list wasn’t very robust, as I worked all through high school. But the most interesting part wasn’t the list of extracurrculars; it wasn’t even the highly stylized signatures of the senior girls – complete with hearts and smiley faces, ad nauseum. The most interesting thing about the senior section was the quotes.

Being several years removed from high school, I’ve gone back to peruse my yearbook on occasion. I’ll read a few of the handwritten messages; then I make a B-line for the senior section to see who’s quotes exemplify their high school selves, and who’s quotes were foreshadowing the people they would become. Of course, I have not kept in touch with everyone from my graduating class, so maybe the quotes just fit my memories of them. At any rate, here are some of my favorites:

• "...in my pants" -Original
• "Nothing left to do but smile smile smile" -Grateful Dead
• "I get by with a little help from m y friends.
• I get high with a little help from my friends." - The Beatles
• "Carpe Diem"
• "Insanity, think of it as a survival kit." - Anonymous
• "We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." - The Tempest
• "I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
• "When I know who I am, then I'll be free." - Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
• "Four years of Academic [our high school]...'And still I rise" - Partially Original/ Maya Angelou
• "Deaf people can do anything except hear" - Original (and from a hearing-impaired student. awesome in my opinion.)
• "College is for girls who don't want to marry the first idiot they meet and push out his illegitimate children." - Original
• "I wish they would only take me as I am." -Vincent Van Gogh
• "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Unknown
• "Nitwit blubber oddment tweak." (I believe this is take from Harry Potter)
• "My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor." - Ecclesiastes 2:10
• "Both tears and sweat are salty, but render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, sweat will get you change." - Jesse Jackson
• "We all go a little mad sometimes." - Norman Bates, Psycho
• "If I could say a few good words...I'd be a better public speaker." - Homer Simpson
• "The difficulty is not to die for a friend but to find a fried to die for." - Anonymous
• "Silence, here I am. Here I am -silent" - Nirvana
• "Verily, when Allah intends a thing, His command is 'Be!' and it is! So glory to Him in whose hands in the dominion of all things: and to Allah is the final return." - Al Qur'an

I could have included more, but I don't want to transcribe the words of my entire senior class. Like I said, I haven't kept in touch enough to know if any of these quotes have proven to been ironic or prophetic, but I hope we have a reunion because I would love to know.