The Secret Life of the American?

So, I realized that I haven’t posted on my blog FOREVER! I’m sorry. I logged onto WordPress just now and found out something important: All my comments are marked as spam and have to be approved to be visible. More apologies to the wonderful internet-users out there that have read my rants! To date, I haven’t had a single negative comment *knock on wood*, and I really appreciate being appreciated. 🙂 I’ve approved all the comments, and they’ve also brightened my day.

Anyways, this post is about the strange things that go on in the lives of other people, namely my camp counselors and teachers. Amazingly enough, teachers have lives outside of school! (I know, right?) With a bit of stalking, research, and friendship-forming, I have discovered this:

1. The only counselor I’ve had for all eight years I spent at camp went on to be a Spanish teacher at the same high school he attended (at least, before it was reconstructed). He got out of college this year to immediately substitute for another teacher on maternity leave, and he was rehired for next school year, too. Too bad this school is the only high school in the town. Former campers now have to call him by his last name, INCLUDING ME. It’s extremely weird to know that one of my teachers knew me when I cried every two seconds, loved arts and crafts, and swam with a floatation device. On the other hand, it’s even STRANGER to know that I knew HIM when he was sweating over the SATS, wore low pants, and spiked his hair (I know, tragic!). Well, now that I think about it, he wore low pants last year…
2. Another counselor, I’ve known for around three years. He, too, is now out of college and works in the town recreational center. I started talking to him once, when I was there.
3. ANOTHER counselor, I’ve known for the same amount of time as the counselor from #1. She’s currently in college in-state, and did not return to camp last year. I saw her just yesterday when I was picking up some pictures from Walgreen’s. It was a little awkward, actually.
4. I was picking up photos from Walgreen’s because I just finished an extra-curricular film photography course. I used the dark room, too. 🙂 Anyways, the teacher (who is also my homeroom teacher), shoots weddings for extra cash. I found that sort of interesting.
5. My band teacher earns extra cash, too, by being in four regional (orchestral) bands. They preform professional gigs all around the state, and he gets paid per rehearsal, whether he participated or not (awesome, right?).
6. I learned one of my former band teachers had a brain tumor a few years ago. A lot of students like to make fun of him because he’s bald. They don’t know that his baldness was caused by the tumor (not the treatment– the actual tumor). That’s gotta hurt.
7. I had a camp counselor for one year, who used to always bring in his trumpet and play. He was a professional trumpeter, and we all loved his music. That summer, I was deciding what instrument I wanted to learn for band class, and trumpet was my first choice. I only remember talking to him once, because my friends goaded me to ask about trumpet-playing. A few years later, he went on to teach part-time at the same high school as the counselor from #1, but the job didn’t last. Last I heard, he’s out of work and looking for a job.
8. Several of my counselors are now in college, and some are still in high school. I see the latter often.
9. The English teachers at the high school are musical geniuses, and have their own band: Drummer, guitarists, bassists, singers, the whole lot. They preform for the school pretty often. I guess they must be pretty good, because every time i hear one of their songs, it’s stuck in y head for the next two weeks or so.
10. And there’s a foreign language teacher who’s a professional singer outside of school. He goes to all sorts of events around the state to sing. I’ve seen his calender. He’s pretty booked.
11. And yet another counselor is finishing his junior year in college, studying to become a teacher, just like the counselor from #1 (does everything go back to him?). He proposed to another counselor on the last day of camp two years ago, and she said yes. He never came back to camp last year, but we exchanged 100+ messages on facebook, in which I learned he had a fight with the other counselor, causing them to break up but stay friends.
12. On the other hand, my guidance counselor and 5th grade art teacher are happily married to each other. It’s a little weird to see them together so much, like when they attend the school play or chaperon dances (yeah, it’s happened).
13. My English teacher plays the guitar and ran an after school guitar jam last year. She’s not in the band, though.

At this point, I’m a bit tired of all this typing, so I think I’ll end here. I hope I haven’t boored you too much with my talking about people you probably don’t know.

And if it’s YOU I’m talking about, then I’m sorry, but at least it’s anonymous.

So, yeah. I learned that, for some strange reason, even the most lifeless people have almost-lives. It’s scary.