New Bedford High School - Crimson Log Yearbook (New Bedford, MA)

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ae . Jesse s Studio 3 CREATIVE WEDDING AND PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY 242 ROCKDALE AVE. NEW BEDFORD, MASS. 02740 994-1283 DeRossi Music School | oa Luck to the ass of '77 172 William Street New Bedford, Mass. A friend eRe

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a TLL f errery Yd ee od sO AD BG BL — TC peo —+— : Dee it Let ll ees Ne) Bet ri () i SENIOR OFFICERS PRESIDENT . . Sheila Tierney Ist VICE-PRESIDENT Debbie Place 2nd VICE-PRESIDENT Linda Medeiros SECRETARY Julie Noel

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Time Remembered When I first started here as a freshman, the four years I was destined to spend in this building seemed likened to infinity. Junior high school ideas poured back into my mind: stories of gang molestings and fre- quent encounters with insurmountable homework were suddenly remembered and dreaded. Due to a lack of confidence I became hesitant. Here I was, making my post-puberty leap into adulthood. I was afraid of doing something horribly wrong, such as forgetting my locker combination. That was probably worth a three-day suspension, at least. Looking back, I realize that my most significant fear was the fact that I was only one student out of four thousand. And in the freshman class at that. Never had I been exposed to so many people, or so many rules. It was difficult to be accepted by the older students. They were more experienced in everything, and they knew it. There wasn’t that much a freshman could do about it, either, except suffer in silence. Thankfully, I discovered my fellow freshmen were going through the same problems, and I was not alone. The unity that was soon created among my young friends took the sting out of the omnipresent discrimina- tion. The rest of the year was spent faithfully abiding by every law and rule applying to the school and proper behavior. We were ingenuously ignorant of the forged yellow slip, the sneak into a neighboring cafeteria, or the skipping of a class. Attention was hard to come by in those early years, so mostly everyone forgot about seeking it. I learned my way around the school, made a few older friends, and began to lose the fears that accompanied my first steps into New Bedford High School. As the year finally came to a close, the anticipa- tion of summer was surpassed by the thrill of realizing that soon, we would not be freshmen. Someone else would. The two years that followed were very comfortable. I was still anxious to become a senior, a glorious sen- ior; but there was still plenty of time left, so I settled down and began a “‘social life.” I met a lot more people, some younger, some older, and was influenced easily. I attended more school dances and the assorted func- tions that are typical of high school. I became more interested in the football and basketball teams, and paid a lot of attention to their records. I even went out for a team myself. My attitude and personality were subject to change, as were my ideas about particular subjects and people. I had plenty of friends now, and was more prone to hang around in a group with the same people every day. I felt safe with them. I didn’t have to speak up or make a stand on any certain issue. As the time passed, my friendships changed, too, but my closest friends always remained by my side and they were still the ones I chose to confide in. Time has a way of showing you who your real friends are.