Reflection on my own Secondary Ed. Experience.

I went to school at a small, rural school. My hometown population was 4,500, and my graduation class was 96 students. I went through secondary school during the early and middle 1990s, graduating in 1996. I do not remember much about my middle school experiences, just primarily high school. I remember most about school is my mathematics classes, especially trigonometry and calculus. I saw them as my college-prep classes and tried to learn what I could before going to Kansas State.
I remember my teachers as bordering the extremes in their teaching styles. There was the low-end teachers that tried to do the bare minimum, counting the days until retirement. Then there was the other end that saw themselves as crusaders, trying to be super-teacher and be the saviors of education. There was not much of a middle ground.
As for other students, they were extremists also. They were either friendly or bullies. I socialized with people before school and during lunch, but I did not hang out with anyone after school. That changed when I was a senior, started dating, and hanging out with another guy my age that worked at the bakery.
When I beginning my 10th grade year I got a job at the local bakery. I would arrive at work at 5:30am to make doughnuts, then go to school. I would fight to stay awake in my classes by trying to take notes. I would go home, do homework, go to some type of social club twice a week (Boy Scouts or Taekwondo), and go to bed around 10pm. What I remember most of all about my overall school life was that it was very structured between school, clubs, and work.
The grade I recall with fondness was my senior year. I was fit from cross-country, I had a girlfriend, and in November I was awarded a full-ride scholarship to Kansas State.
The grade I would like to forget is 9th grade. I HATED physical education class (the only class I got a B in). The upside of that year was my algebra teacher who made math a subject I wanted to continue to study.
I did not experience too much pressure from peers and parents. My parents wanted me to pass my classes, take four years of band, get an after-school job when I was 16 years old, and go to college. I did not have much peer pressure until I was a senior, having pressure from my girlfriend.
As for my overall feelings while I was in school, I felt like I was just floating through. I always knew I was going to college, so I always had my mind set of getting out of my hometown. The only time I felt like I had strong feelings was during my freshman year, which I really hated with a passion.
If I was to give advice to someone in secondary school, it is to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible without stretching yourself too thin. Take part in activities, talk to teachers. I took college night classes starting my junior year, having 15 credit hours by the time I graduated. There is going to be good and bad experiences in secondary school. Experience them because the experience will provide a foundation for what is encountered after high school and with life in general.