Educating the King - Pt II

July 17, 2010

So through my brief couple of years at Alamitos, I became reacquainted with a lot of the kids I knew from my years at Carver.  So a little more socializing than just the handful of kids I was with in the GATE program.  I’d also have to say the one teacher that had the greatest impact on me was Mr. Hill.  I remember he pulled me aside between classes one day and told me that he was disappointed in my progress.  He knew I could do a lot better than what I was showing in class…  That really stuck with me.  

Alamitos was also about the time when I made a change in how I spelled my name.  Yes, my birth name is Luis.  But I distinctly recall a session in Mrs. Hamilton’s class, we were always her little cherubs.  And she would always have us kids trade papers for grading.  Cynthia Cruz was grading mine and despite the fact that there weren’t any LOIS’ in class, when she read the name on my paper, that’s exactly what she said.  That got a big laugh and of course, more than a few of the guys in class decided that was to be my nickname for the rest of the year…  So to humor them and hopefully to clear up how to pronounce my name, I just added the “o” and it’s been Louis ever since.  Or Louie…  or Lou. It’s almost bizarre when I hear anyone call me Luis at this point but sure enough, there are a couple of people that do. 

I have the most bizarre memories at times.  The little scenes like that that I recall.  There are whole blocks of months where I honestly couldn’t tell you what I did or who I did it with.  But then there are those minor moments.  Like when my art teacher sent me on a chase around campus to find a record player.  Seems he wanted to play a record of Little Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.  I don’t know how or why it got to that point but sure enough, I spent an entire class period hunting one down at the school.  To the office, to a classroom it was once at, back to a storage room with the janitor and finally another classroom.  I think I made it back to art class with about 4 minutes left in class.  Needless to say, we didn’t hear the record.  

I also knew I was one of the outsiders at the time.  Despite being in the same class as most of the other kids, I had my small group of friends, David Bendorf still being among them.  We used to ride our bikes to school in the morning so it was a little chilly out when we did.  I’d wear my jacket and since it didn’t fit easily into our tiny lockers, I’d wear it most of the day.  The amount of derision I’d get for wearing that jacket into the warmer months…  Kids are quick to try to find someone to pick on just so they can feel better about themselves.  I realized that even then so it never really bothered me.  I even joked about it myself to defuse it.  It mostly worked.  Except for one or two kids, most of the time everyone let me be.  

Graduating up to Rancho was cool but over the summer, David and his family packed up and moved back to Omaha…  This was going to be the first year I’d be going to school without him since the 1st grade.  I’d spoken with him once since that summer and even late last year I found his sister on Facebook.  But I never heard back from him.

My freshman year at Rancho was kind of an eye opener.  Being an underclassman, I remember seeing a few of my friends getting trash-canned those first few months.  Often.  

But not all the juniors and seniors were like that.  And through some bizarre mix-up with my class schedule, I was put on yearbook staff as a freshman.  That was cool even if I only lasted the first semester.  I swear, I wish I could remember everyone’s names…  But we did reminisce a little last night over the teachers and accusations of impropriety, remembering Golfland and the old Edwards theater.  6-screens!  A multiplex!  I would have my parents drop me off after school on a Friday and watch 3 or 4 movies before calling it a day.  I guess that’s where my love of films really took off…  It’s now an auto supply store.  

All that fun was short-lived though as we approached the end of the school year.  My parents were looking at buying a house…  In Riverside.  That felt like a world away at the time.  We went out to look at the place in May, when the weather’s just warming up and the spring rains made everything green.  It looked gorgeous, the little, almost cottage-like quality of the house they were buying.  The vacant lot across the street with its wild green grass growing.  It felt picturesque.  Then we finally moved out there in August.  

Now, no one had really told us what the weather was like in Riverside in August.  Mind you, this was summer of 87.  There wasn’t such a thing as the internet to look up stuff like that.  Maybe some old printed almanacs would give us a clue but for the most part, we went in blind…  Yeah, that had to be the most miserable summer of my life.  Leaving all my friends back in Garden Grove was bad enough but moving into a house that only had two window unit air conditioners was insane.  My brother and I would literally lay out in the living room directly under the AC unit praying for relief.  We didn’t really venture out unless we absolutely had to.  I think the only time we left the house was for school registration and another time when one of our uncles came with his girlfriend to take us to the movies in his El Camino…  Yes, El Camino.  Guess where my brother and I got to sit on the way to the theater and back?  

I started my sophomore year at Arlington and was already something of an outsider.  Trying to catch up and get to know the other members of my class while most of them had been going to school together for years.  This was also the time I had signed up for Air Force Junior ROTC.  Yes, that’s right.  For those of you that DIDN’T know, I was gung-ho All-American since way back when.  I have to admit, even though I was at a disadvantage coming in a year after most other students had started JROTC, I excelled at it.  A combination of sciences and drill routines, I loved it.  This is where I learned public speaking.  Not that I was ever really shy but we had to present regular reports to the class so any shyness was quickly gotten over.  I learned a little about meteorology, aerodynamics, tradition and respect for our country and our flag.  As anyone who’s been with me at a baseball game or Disneyland for the flag retreat ceremony knows, I’m very familiar with the respect our country’s flag is due.  And of course, I made some friends along the way in class.  Gareth Gregson, Bryon Demarbiex, Gary Sicard, Cameron Youngstrom…  Except for Gareth and Bryon, I haven’t seen or heard from anyone at Arlington since halfway through my senior year.  That’s when yet another change was in store.  

I wanted to graduate with MY classmates.  The gang I knew from Rancho.  So at the semester break, I went to live with my grandmother in Stanton and finished out my senior year at Rancho, graduating 20 years ago…  Class of 1990.  Seems like a lifetime ago.  And tonight, a group of us are getting together to celebrate and remember what it was like when we were young and ready to take on the world.