I'll be the first to admit that I love school, always have.
With the exception of a hideous “first day of high school outfit” (while no
photographic evidence exists of this monstrosity, rest assured, my mother sent
me to a brand new high school wearing Umbro shorts, a white Hanes t-shirt with "GCHS”
stitched on the front, and a brand new pair of Keds. How I wasn’t shoved into a
locker is beyond me.) and braces worn throughout all FOUR years of high school
(whose bright idea was that, Dr.
Bauer?), my school days were filled with friends, fun, and Flags.
Kindergarten through second grade, I attended St. Mary’s-St.
Mark’s Catholic School in Madison, Illinois. A Polish Franciscan parish, the
grade school was headed by Sr. Mary John and employed several Franciscan nuns
as teachers. Our grade school was unique in that there were two separate schools
located in two towns for two separate age groups. Kindergarten through fifth
graders attended St. Mary’s in Madison and sixth through eighth graders
attended St. Mark’s school and parish in Venice, Illinois. I was a student in
the last second grade class to make our First Holy Communion at St. Mary’s
before the school was permanently closed in 1988 and demolished a few years
later. A vacant lot is all that exists now, but for the students who passed
through the heavy wooden doors, memories of “Balloon Day”, the city-wide Halloween
parade, and recess spent on the front asphalt lot live on.
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| Little Linda, on my first day of school, ca. 1989 |
Third through eighth grade took me to St. Elizabeth’s School in
Granite City, Illinois where I played volleyball, basketball (horribly), and
cheered on the Royals. I was Confirmed with the name “Victoria” here, played
Tom Sawyer in our eighth grade class production and graduated with a class size
numbering only in the 20’s. Entering high school in 1995 into a school with 1,200
students, I was wholly unprepared to deal with lockers, a confusing campus map,
and hordes of students getting from one classroom to the next.
I was a third generation Granite City Warrior, walking the
halls like my mother and grandfather did before me. As a student in the 1950’s,
my mom was the Present of the Future Homemakers Society. With my lack of
cooking and cleaning skills, that’s a club I surely wouldn’t be accepted into!
Instead, I became a member of the Red Peppers, a spirit club that attended all
of the home football and basketball games until I tried out and made the award-winning
Marching Warriors as a member of the Color Guard. Four years of band camp,
Homecoming “mums”, May Carousel, and friendships flew by and before I knew it,
I was the first person in my family bound for college.
Unsure of what I wanted to major in and armed with a two
year scholarship, I attended Southwestern Illinois College where I was a member
of the College Activities Board, got used to not hearing bells call me to every
class, and ventured away from home for the first time when I was accepted into
the Walt Disney World College Program to “live, earn, and learn” at the
Happiest Place on Earth. Armed with my AA, I headed to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where I
worked two jobs to pay my way through school, including a semester spent
studying in Salzburg, Austria and graduated in 2004 with a BS in Speech
Communication.
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| Earning my "Ducktorate Degree" during the Walt Disney World College Program. |
Much has changed since my school days first began in 1986.
If you’re wondering where I’ve gone to lately or why I’m late posting a New
Restaurant Wednesday post (three in the line up!), I’m probably at the Emerson
Library or the East Academic Building of the George Herbert Walker School of Business at Webster
University or spending hours draining Panera of their Hazelnut coffee while
putting together marketing plans and conducting market research.
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| Just another "school day" studying at Panera. |
Four classes, one Capstone, and one more year until I
graduate with my MA in Marketing and mark the end of my school days…for now.
