Back to school with Amy and the Melissas

Since it's "Back to School" month at CLC, we're talking about our favorite school moments and other thoughts on the topic. This week, Amy and the Melissas are here to share the lessons they learned.

Amy:

Extracurricular activities:
My predominant extracurricular activity growing up was dancing. I started taking ballet in first grade and by the time I was in 8th grade I was also doing jazz and point. For one semester in 10th grade I played tennis and also volleyball.

Did you go to summer school? If so, for what class?
The summer before my junior year in college I took bio/anatomy crash course. All I can say is that it was a killer.

Did you ever study abroad? If so, where?
Unfortunately I never studied abroad but if I could turn back time and I would have definitely done so in Spain and Italy. I took Spanish in HS and college so I would have loved to live in a Spanish culture for a little while.

Favorite TV show about school:
One of my favorite TV shows about school is Saved by the Bell. This show was the bomb!

Favorite sport to watch or play:
I wasn't into sports but I do have to say that I loved dodgeball. It was the only time I got excited during gym class.

Melissa A:

Extracurricular activities:
I was involved in speech team (a.k.a. Forensics) throughout high school. I loved going to tournaments, even though I was better at flirting than I was in my event. :) I also was involved with theater, but mostly behind the scenes.

My hair looks about the same now!

Favorite yearbook photo:
My senior yearbook photo. I had my hair and makeup done professionally and tried out three different outfits. I liked the one with the vest over all black clothing.

Favorite TV show about school:
Saved by the Bell. I know it was super cheesy, but I just loved it anyway. No one can do drug addiction PSA episodes the way SBTB did it with Jessie and her caffeine pill overdose.

I also love Degrassi High. That show was classic and I'd race home from school every day to catch the episodes just as they were about to come on. It was so honest and real.

Oddly enough, both shows have "Wake up in the morning" in/as the first line of their theme songs.

Proudest achievement during my academic career:
Receiving the Len Gustin Theater Service award during junior year. I didn't get into any plays (aside from one freshman year), but I assistant directed a couple and helped behind the scenes on others. It was so gratifying to get this award and be recognized for my hard work!

Interesting fact about my high school:
The Madonna Bar Mitzvah boy went to my HS. I knew him too. I'd drive him home from speech team practice and we'd sing along with the Joseph... soundtrack. I also remember him listening to my Little Mermaid watch all the time because it played "Under the Sea." He was always really nice and I loved that he embraced who he was and didn't hide from it. People respected him for it!

Melissa P:

Best year of school and why:
My best year of school was also the most difficult. It was my senior year of high school. I moved to Scottsdale from Chicago just before school started and I was terrified. The first day I made multiple friends that I still consider close friends to this day. Although it was hard to leave the life I knew for so long, it felt like a year long vacation filled with shopping, pool parties, dates, football games, dances, and road trips. I wouldn't change it for anything because it was like a test run for the following year when I would be going off to college and starting over again. I realized a lot about myself and my character and that I could make new friends easily while still keeping the old. Now I have friends from all walks of life that I consider near and dear and I don't think that will ever change. Almost anywhere I go in the country (and some parts of the world) I have a friend there. Melissa A. is a perfect example, we grew up on the same block in Chicago :)

Extracurricular activities:
I participated in many different activities. In grade school I played tennis, soccer, and softball. I also was in ice skating, dance, gymnastics and brownies. In high school I narrowed it down to dance, track, and drama club (I even student directed a play). I was also in an improv group at my high school in Chicago and we went around to all of the freshmen and sophomore classes to teach them about safe driving through different comedic skits. In Arizona, I was on the very first girls soccer team at my school. I played tennis into my early twenties, but most of the year its too hot to play in arizona! I also kept dancing through college and I still do ballet now.

Favorite required reading book:
This is easy. "The Great Gatsby." It's still one of my favorite books to this day. I have always said (as Melissa A. knows) that I was born in the wrong era. I should have been a young adult in the roaring twenties! I'm obsessed with the clothes, the parties and the way women took on the world in a way they never had before and really pushed the limits.

Did you date anyone?
I did. I dated a few guys in Chicago, one seriously, until I moved to Arizona. After I moved, I went on a lot of dates! The benefits of being the new girl from a big city in a small town!

Favorite annual event:
Homecoming. The game and the dance that followed. My boyfriend in Chicago was one of the star football players and every year after the game (it was more fun when we won!) we would get a huge group of the football players and cheerleaders and Pom Pom dancers and go to one of the senior football players houses and have a pool party. Then the night of the dance we would all rent hotel rooms and have a big after-party! Hopefully my parents aren't reading this! I am definitely one of those annoying girls that thought high school was so much fun!

My 17th birthday