An old friend of mine and I were recently chatting about the “good ol’ days” of grade school, high school and college. We reminisced about some of the hi-jinks we participated as well as the antics, the escapades and capers we gave way to. We keep those parts of our school days so dearly in our memories even to this day.

In grade school, I was rather quiet and withdrawn as I navigated the eight years of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School in Minneapolis. I didn’t hate school and I certainly didn’t fight my parents whenever I donned my uniform, snatched up my books and notebooks and traversed the mile or so walk to the school each and every day. I enjoyed recess (of course) and field trips and seemed to excel at art and spelling, but my main interest was in making close friends and I feel I did that over the course of those early school years.

I remember always telling myself to be optimistic and treat people like you want to be treated.

By the time grade school culminated, I was just starting to feel comfortable in my skin and social situations became agreeable and serene. I failed to fathom the worthiness of these friendships and here I was on the verge of possibly never seeing these people again.

A few of my classmates went on with me to Fridley Grace High School but the closeness we had in earlier years dissipated as we took on the challenge of a new school, new teachers, new potential friends and a higher education. It was like starting all over in first grade, hoping you’d connect with a new buddy or group of like-minded people and the social awkwardness would melt away after a short time.

Well it happened, it just took longer than anticipated.

As high school progressed for me, I found my self concentrating more on making and retaining relationships than I was focused on school work. My grades suffered as that distraction — along with the pretty girls I was awakened to — and by my junior year I realized my social clumsiness and waning attention to curriculum was threatening my pursuit of graduating with this class.

In a questionable move, I decided to transfer to Patrick Henry in Minneapolis to complete my high school education.

Guess what? Another case of starting over with friendships and acquaintances  stirred in my mind but I knew I only had one more year of schooling to “get through”. Little did I know a teacher at Henry encouraged and assisted me in signing up for college classes despite my lack of eagerness to do so.

Regardless, I survived those thorny years of schooling and when I look back on the experiences, I have a more favorable memory of those years and the people I met. I am grateful for the people I did meet that became friends and are still friends today. I’m also grateful to the friendships I made back in those days that are no longer there due to “people moving on.” Though brief, their rapport and fellowship will always have a special place in my heart.

Traversing the labyrinth of educational institutions and life’s lessons is a challenge but can be so rewarding should you align yourself with good friends, good teachers and a positive outlook.