Rescuing myself from the fringes of society was no easy task. Especially considering that I retained many of my unusual interests and nerd like tendancies.
A contributing factor to assist me was being accidentally scheduled for weights instead of gym class. Weights was reserved for athletes only – something I most definitely was not. But I wanted to capitalize on WCHS’s mistake and use it to my advantage. In order to prevent from being kicked out of the class, I had to join a sport. So naturally I joined swimming, and later diving (which I was actually quite good at!). I still like to brag about the fact that after 4 years of weight class, I held 3 of the 4 school weight lifting records for my weight division (bench press, squats, and power clean for those who care).
My friends in high school ranged from preppy, to grunge, with a dash a punk. Since I obviously had no style of my own (and still don’t) I just borrowed from everyone else to create my own unique blend I like to call “Whatever my sister buys me”.
Another noteworthy event from high school was that I netted my first official girlfriend. Then a second, and third… it was clear that “Project: Ryan Reformation” had been an outright success.