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Weirdly, middle school was one of the high-points of grade school for me. It saw the initiation of nearly every important interest and passion that I have (most

by _bxg1 7y ago

Weirdly, middle school was one of the high-points of grade school for me. It saw the initiation of nearly every important interest and passion that I have (mostly by coincidence, but still): - Middle school band introduced me to music - both listening and playing - which was life-changing for me. Band remained the best thing in my life through the rest of gradeschool, and music still is. - I learned to play guitar for the first time, joining a wonderful freeform after-school club for it - I discovered Tolkien, JRPGs, and Morrowind (and their respective music), all of which seeded my imaginative life in ways that are still felt today - I tried programming for the first time (over a summer), awakening another passion and putting me on a trajectory for my future career Socially, middle-school was rough. But that was true for pretty much all of grade school. And inwardly, middle school was amazing. I still look back on it fondly.

sorenn111 7y ago
Weirdly I relate to some of your experiences in a lot of ways. - Middle school was really the only time in my life i had the free time to learn instruments. I played a lot of guitar and even played with friends. Never had the time after. - Morrowind. I loved this game even though I was too young to really know what I was doing. - My passion for math and science was ignited at this time which led me on the great path of focusing on math/physic in High school. Double majoring CS math in College and programming today. - Was able to compete in chess tournaments regularly, never have had time since. Socially, I had some friends, but they were nerds too. Honestly I'm glad I wasn't "popular". The kids I know who were became just boring popular people who started drinking and doing drugs way too early, obsessing about sports that they'll never play again, and never advanced their lives in fulfilling ways (in my opinion, though i think getting distracted by over socializing early in school [ie partying] distracts one from the good grades/drive needed to achieve good a good career). Being popular and good at sports in middle school is a curse! Nerds ftw!!
- _bxg1 7y ago
  It seemed like it was an interesting mid-point between elementary and high school: they start giving you some real extracurricular activities and electives and such to start exploring, but you don't yet have the highschool pressures of more difficult classes and preparation for college. Maybe that sweet spot is why it's a renaissance for some people. It's even analogous to college, a midpoint between grade school and adult life; a sudden increase in experiences without a proportionate increase in responsibilities.
Enginerrrd 7y ago
Yeah my time in middle school was very cherished. I got to do so many cool extracurricular activities, and finally had enough know-how to start teaching myself stuff. I learned to play chess from a high ranked player, I started teaching myself python, I learned 3D drafting basics, played soccer, learned to skate, etc etc. I was finally given enough leash to do those things, and to hangout with friends outside of school, including overnight. I got to go on soccer trips and stuff with my traveling team. My parents never went on those trips so I'd always be driven/housed by someone else and got to see what normal people were actually like. I finally realized how off my parents were, and how verbally and emotionally abusive and unfair they could be, so I started seeking out extracurriculars at every opportunity which was awesome. For some reason, hardly any of the guys were actually talking to the girls, so I had free reign and no competition flirting and cutting my teeth on male-female relationships. There were also plenty of opportunities to learn to deal with bullies and stuff. I even look back on those fondly. ("Cool-kid" bully once sucker-punched me straight in the jaw as hard as he could in front of a bunch of people, and instead of reacting how he wanted I just calmly looked at him like he'd tapped me on the shoulder said "Can I help you, Travis?". He backed down in a hurry.) I don't know man, but I loved middle school. I just hated how I was treated by my parents, but I didn't realize until later that they had a lot of unresolved mental health problems, and that it wasn't my fault. Also, I don't look fondly on the random boners. I had to wear suit pants all the time for band performances and let me tell you, those don't hide anything.
danenania 7y ago
That’s awesome—for me it was pretty much the opposite. I spent middle school hanging out with the ‘popular kids’ despite really having nothing in common with them. While I was more or less accepted, I pretended to be someone I wasn’t and it was miserable. All my energy went into trying to fit in and improve my status instead of anything fulfilling or useful. Thankfully by high school I realized I was way happier being my real self with other nerds. Looking back, I admire the kids like you that knew who they were and never succumbed to that pressure.
- _bxg1 7y ago
  I wouldn't say I had some sort of enlightened perspective; I really wanted to fit in with the cool kids, it's more just that I'd dealt with rejection for so long that in some ways I'd kind of given up/I didn't have enough social skills to even know how to change that. It didn't even have much to do with my interests; there were people around that I had things in common with, some of whom I became acquainted with, but I just didn't really know how to make real friends. Put differently: I felt like a pariah until the very tail end of high school; it just happened that in middle school I had several unrelated good things happening too.
closeparen 7y ago
Up through 5th grade I felt self-sufficient, powered by an internal radiant contentment and warmth. I was reading Orson Scott Card and Eoin Colfer, watching Code Lyoko, learning PHP/MySQL, world-building in my imagination. I had a rich internal life and just wasn't that interested in my classmates. At the onset of middle school, social/emotional needs appeared out of nowhere, all at once. It was like getting hit by a truck. I tend to think that's just growing up, but an it's an interesting thought that the institution plays a role.

by _bxg1 7y ago

sorenn111 7y ago

Weirdly I relate to some of your experiences in a lot of ways. - Middle school was really the only time in my life i had the free time to learn instruments. I played a lot of guitar and even played with friends. Never had the time after. - Morrowind. I loved this game even though I was too young to really know what I was doing. - My passion for math and science was ignited at this time which led me on the great path of focusing on math/physic in High school. Double majoring CS math in College and programming today. - Was able to compete in chess tournaments regularly, never have had time since. Socially, I had some friends, but they were nerds too. Honestly I'm glad I wasn't "popular". The kids I know who were became just boring popular people who started drinking and doing drugs way too early, obsessing about sports that they'll never play again, and never advanced their lives in fulfilling ways (in my opinion, though i think getting distracted by over socializing early in school [ie partying] distracts one from the good grades/drive needed to achieve good a good career). Being popular and good at sports in middle school is a curse! Nerds ftw!!

_bxg1 7y ago
It seemed like it was an interesting mid-point between elementary and high school: they start giving you some real extracurricular activities and electives and such to start exploring, but you don't yet have the highschool pressures of more difficult classes and preparation for college. Maybe that sweet spot is why it's a renaissance for some people. It's even analogous to college, a midpoint between grade school and adult life; a sudden increase in experiences without a proportionate increase in responsibilities.

Enginerrrd 7y ago

Yeah my time in middle school was very cherished. I got to do so many cool extracurricular activities, and finally had enough know-how to start teaching myself stuff. I learned to play chess from a high ranked player, I started teaching myself python, I learned 3D drafting basics, played soccer, learned to skate, etc etc. I was finally given enough leash to do those things, and to hangout with friends outside of school, including overnight. I got to go on soccer trips and stuff with my traveling team. My parents never went on those trips so I'd always be driven/housed by someone else and got to see what normal people were actually like. I finally realized how off my parents were, and how verbally and emotionally abusive and unfair they could be, so I started seeking out extracurriculars at every opportunity which was awesome. For some reason, hardly any of the guys were actually talking to the girls, so I had free reign and no competition flirting and cutting my teeth on male-female relationships. There were also plenty of opportunities to learn to deal with bullies and stuff. I even look back on those fondly. ("Cool-kid" bully once sucker-punched me straight in the jaw as hard as he could in front of a bunch of people, and instead of reacting how he wanted I just calmly looked at him like he'd tapped me on the shoulder said "Can I help you, Travis?". He backed down in a hurry.) I don't know man, but I loved middle school. I just hated how I was treated by my parents, but I didn't realize until later that they had a lot of unresolved mental health problems, and that it wasn't my fault. Also, I don't look fondly on the random boners. I had to wear suit pants all the time for band performances and let me tell you, those don't hide anything.

danenania 7y ago

That’s awesome—for me it was pretty much the opposite. I spent middle school hanging out with the ‘popular kids’ despite really having nothing in common with them. While I was more or less accepted, I pretended to be someone I wasn’t and it was miserable. All my energy went into trying to fit in and improve my status instead of anything fulfilling or useful. Thankfully by high school I realized I was way happier being my real self with other nerds. Looking back, I admire the kids like you that knew who they were and never succumbed to that pressure.

_bxg1 7y ago
I wouldn't say I had some sort of enlightened perspective; I really wanted to fit in with the cool kids, it's more just that I'd dealt with rejection for so long that in some ways I'd kind of given up/I didn't have enough social skills to even know how to change that. It didn't even have much to do with my interests; there were people around that I had things in common with, some of whom I became acquainted with, but I just didn't really know how to make real friends. Put differently: I felt like a pariah until the very tail end of high school; it just happened that in middle school I had several unrelated good things happening too.

closeparen 7y ago

Up through 5th grade I felt self-sufficient, powered by an internal radiant contentment and warmth. I was reading Orson Scott Card and Eoin Colfer, watching Code Lyoko, learning PHP/MySQL, world-building in my imagination. I had a rich internal life and just wasn't that interested in my classmates. At the onset of middle school, social/emotional needs appeared out of nowhere, all at once. It was like getting hit by a truck. I tend to think that's just growing up, but an it's an interesting thought that the institution plays a role.