1. I had one job in high school. During breaks, I worked at a hippie health food café in the center of town. My favorite thing about it was that it was very social. Some of my friends also worked there and many days it felt like everyone we knew came through to say hi.
2. I had to take my driver’s license test two times. I failed the first one because I couldn’t back into a parking spot from a ninety-degree angle. Even though did it on the second test, I’d be hesitant to do it today. However, I am an excellent parallel parker.
3. I went to three proms. Sadly, the one I enjoyed least was my own. For one of them, my boyfriend and I each got asked by friends (neither of us went to their school) and went separately as their dates. The funniest thing was that our dates weren’t in the same circle so we sat at different tables. That one was probably the most fun.
4. I grew up in New England and what I miss most about it is having four seasons. Fall is my favorite (foliage!) and it doesn’t exist in LA.
5. I’d estimate that I had five hours of homework each night. This might be a slight exaggeration but it’s not wildly off. Homework ruled my life but I never got it all done.
6. I went to a high school that had classes every other Saturday—that’s right, a six-day school week.
7. I could fill my wardrobe for seven dollars. My adult germaphobe self shudders about this now, but my favorite place was a “vintage” store, called “Dollar Per Pound.” It was a warehouse/loft in Boston with heaps of clothing on the floor. You waded into the piles, filled bags and weighed them when you were done. And then--you guessed it—you paid a dollar for every pound of clothing.
8. To me the best thing about the eighties was MTV.
9. Someone once told me that everyone has an “eternal age”, meaning that you get to a certain age and more or less feel that way for the rest of your life. For me that age is nineteen.
10. Tenth grade was my favorite year of high school. I did well in school, had mad crushes on lots of cute boys and had great friends.
11. In eleventh grade, I switched from my town’s public high school to a local private boarding school, which I attended as a day student. This was a huge change and I’ve only recently started to appreciate all the unique things about the private school.
12. Dunkin’ Donuts is a Boston institution and was one of my favorite late night hangouts. My usual order was a medium regular coffee (cream and two sugars) with a coffee roll, and I always took home a dozen (12) donuts. Yum!
13. My family moved from Winchester to Andover, Massachusetts when I was thirteen. Though it was hard, I think it was ultimately good for me to have a fresh start.
14. I love traveling. My parents liked to take one big trip every summer and when I was fourteen, we went to China for a month. We spent a few days in Tibet, which is one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever been.
15. I could get ready for school in fifteen minutes. I still have this talent and I owe it to the fact that I spent most of high school very deprived of sleep.
Now you know way more about teen me than you ever wanted to. I’m actually proud of myself for pulling this off. Thanks for reading!
Wow, thanks so much, Charlotte! And you can enter a giveaway below :)
Charlotte Huang is a graduate of Smith College and received an MBA from Columbia Business School, which is clearly something every aspiring writer should do. When not glued to her computer, she cheers her two sons on at sporting events and sometimes manages to stay up late enough to check out bands with her music agent husband. Charlotte lives in Los Angeles and is the author of For the Record (Delacorte, 2015)
Represented by Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary.
This is really interesting. I also attend a private boarding school as a day student, I also have way to much homework. Those were my favourite points!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nova!! Hope things are getting better :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a really fun post! I, um, failed my driving test twice, Charlotte, so don't feel too bad ;) Parallel parking was my downfall too- I ran over the curb completely and into the grass the first time! And I love the concept of an eternal age! I think mine is around there somewhere too. I definitely don't feel like an actual adult, that's for sure ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd Nova, I am sorry you have had a rough time, and I do hope things are going better for you now! Hugs!
Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight
My favourite point was hearing about the dollar per pound vintage clothing warehouse place! Sounds like a thrifting dream to me now, but my adult self would probably shudder at the uncleanliness too. :P
ReplyDelete