650 Words

Gavin George graduated from high school in 1998. Back then he was a kind and thoughtful teenager who was well-liked by peers and teachers. Here, though, Gavin writes about what a challenge it was for him to just be himself at that age. No doubt he’s not alone in this. “Be yourself” seems like good advice, but with the million-and-one considerations that accompany every social interaction, how does one do that ? If you try to be yourself but you really don’t know who you are, where does that leave you? Gav tries to get at some of these questions below. After graduating from high school, Gavin went to USD, where he earned a BA in English and a minor in religious studies. After trying his hand at teaching and youth ministry, Gavin began working for his parents at their Catholic and vitamin store, Nature’s Storehouse, in Chula Vista. His post is about allowing yourself to be vulnerable. “The aim of my post is to share with students my personal experiences and reflections that I ha

I didn't know what to title this piece, so I just went with Kelly's words. I'm also not sure I can say anything here that would serve as a fitting intro to her story. So I'll just let her tell it. I will say that Kelly Clemeshaw, then Kelly Marean, graduated from high school in 1993. She was part of my first class, which naturally means I remember everyone one of those "kids" extremely well. In the photograph below, for instance, I can name every person in the frame (Kelly is in front with the red jacket), the class period (6th, after lunch), and the person who took the photograph (Paula Waisman, who was in third period with Riki, Adrienne, Raquel and a number of others who I still keep in touch with). After graduating, Kelly moved on to Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA where she earned a BA in Spanish Language and Literature. (Not sure what Kelly's Senor Steel nickname was.) After earning an MA at Cal State San Marcos, Kelly went on to ha

Alex Santiago DiBiaso graduated from high school in 1992. Those who have been around Parker for a while will recall that she was part of our great college counseling team a few years back. Alex has been a faithful reader of the 650 blog from the beginning. Early on she said she might have something to contribute; I said “Great!” which is my standard response. Ten months passed. I figured she had forgotten. I think I had, too. But, no. Alex hadn’t forgotten. She was just gathering her thoughts all that time. As someone who has worked with young people going through the college process in a variety of ways for a long while, she had a lot of ideas about the kinds of issues that are typically addressed in this space. She stopped and started her post several times. She considered and reconsidered her own experience. She had a lot of advice to offer, but she couldn’t decide which of it was most important or valuable. Alex solved this dilemma by following her own best ad