I Was No Mean Girl In High School

Did any of you watch Mean Girls? You know, the one with the very hot Lindsay Lohan (okay, she's probably not so hot now, being in rehab and all, but I have to say she was H.A.W.T in that show), playing a sweet innocent girl who got "plasticised" by the most popular girls in school? Watching the movie really reminded me of how complicated high schools are in the US (well, that and the hot babes. Eh, just because I'm straight, doesn't mean I don't appreciate hot women. And hate 'em to death. Tee hee hee). And how simple it was for me.

Oh we had our popular girls, all right. We had the "jocks" (that would be the school netball players, state athletes, etc), the "geeks" (mostly in the first class, where a lot of them are kiasu beyond compare), the rich ones, poor ones, and everyone else in between. But we had never drawn that line so clearly that we snub and ignore the ones of the other "classes".

What was it like for me in secondary school? Well, I was never an under-achiever, nor an over-achiever. I guess you can say I dabbled with each side from time to time, but always falling back in the middle.

I was never a prefect, class monitor or anything of authority. Well, I was an assistant monitor once in Standard 4, but I *ahem* abused my power and almost lost my now-best buds. Hey, it was my first time. When the teacher asked you to catch those talking, you do it! I was given the silent treatment for a week. Never again, I said. I joined the herd, and never became anything more than an average student. Still, it felt good wearing the "Penolong Ketua Darjah" badge for a year.

I became a part of the IT (as in, cool, not Information Technology) group in Form 4 and Form 5. At that time, I had absolutely NO idea we were that popular, but then again, maybe it's because a certain now-celebrity was in our group :p Still, we had so much fun. We had a love-hate relationship with our teachers; they couldn't stand us because we were so noisy, yet they were drawn to our exuberance and zest for life (that's what I thought anyway). One thing's for sure - I never felt like I couldn't fit in, nor did I dread going to school. In fact, I loved it!

I joined the *ahem* kiasu group too, and became a kiasu girl myself. If not for them, I would have flunked my Form 5. For that, I really thank them for helping me out, and for giving me a chance to know that they were a really fun group too.

It's just funny, thinking of my school days, because we all played together, had fun together with people of different races and status of life. It never dawned on us that just because you're poor, you're not a part of us. Or if you were of a different race. One of my dearest friends in Form 3 was the nicest Malay girl I've ever had the honour to come across and know. Too bad we fell out of touch when she left us after Form 3. I wonder how she's doing now ...

Having said all that, I'm glad secondary school was not a battleground for me. Yeah, I struggled with some of the subjects, hated some of the teachers ... hey, it was all part and parcel of life in school. But the friendships made, with people from all different walks of life ... that is priceless.

So, what was life like in school for you? Were you a jock? A geek? Or an IT girl/boy?