Did I attend school in a war zone?

My friend Lisa shared a rebound story link about our high school. Reading it, one would think that I went to school in the midst of a war zone. As though each morning I had to put on a bullet proof vest, put a gat in my waist, and brass knuckles in my pocket. Readers who are not acquainted with the school, might think of the kids graduating from there as "surviving" and feel sorry for parents who had to send their kids to a school of last resort. Whereas my friends, when we think back to the days at Gompers Secondary, recall going to the local taco shops at lunchtime, recall with fondness computer teachers who were teaching Pascal to bloods (a local gang), and talk about their desire to want to give back to a place that gave them so much.

Many of them, like me, think that though the rest of the world may think of this new charter school as "safer," we worry about these local kids being able to survive in their real world. Whereas an outsider might see this school as a safe haven; I get an uncomfortable feeling of these kids having to march into school, being inspected like they're at a Nazi training camp, and no longer having the opportunity to learn how to navigate the many challenges they will face in their world. Graduating from Gompers, I knew that many things in life would not just be handed to me, that there would be people who assumed negative things about me at first glimpse, and that hard work would be required just to achieve what others around me might feel that they were entitled to get.

My high school friends and I agree that though there were dangerous aspects of the school (e.g., fencing around / inside the school to keep us "safe," a police presence, after school "chink chases"), there were a lot of positives about Gompers. For instance, one of my greatest gifts coming out of this school was the appreciation for people as individuals, rather than focusing on $$ or other immaterial things. Though we might have laughed back then about the many "multi-cultural days," it seemed normal to me to celebrate Lunar New Year, to be aware of Ramadan, to be excited about the Day of the Dead, and El Dia de Los Magos, just as much as our neighbors south of the border. And consistently I want to hug so many of the graduates for the wonderful volunteer work that they are doing in their new neighborhoods, all around the world like Soccer Clubs in Costa Rica (Shanthi!) and Economic Civicism in South-Central La (Shay!). The outside world would probably be surprised at the enormous success of many of the graduates:

• environmental lawyer in San Fran [Robb], 
• patent lawyer in DC [Sandra]
  
• DA [Christopher], 
• doctor [Akilah], 
• university professor [Emily], 
• writers [Tamara, Seranie, Lynn, Kelly], 
• PhD scientist [Lisa], 
• numerous computer programmers [Kirk, James, Ryan, Chris, Brian, Jeff ]
• entrepreneurs [Sarah, Shay, Kevia]
• school administrators [David, Rita]
• activists [Duane, John]
  

That's not including the individuals who are continuing to find themselves, discover new passions, and who have never forgotten the importance of just knowing how to love to live day-to-day aspects of life.

Despite it's notoriety of being in the 'hood, Gompers outside of San Diego won awards with its debate team, marketing team, constitution team, and other academic teams. Each year, several students would attend UCSD half-day as a jump-start to their college education. And even though many of us were annoyed that the two play fields did not have any grass on which to play football, we did have a volleyball team and the option to play sports at another school half-day, giving kids with sports aspirations alternatives.

Like any other US high school, we had the popular kids, the nerds, the druggies, the loners, and the cast-outs. We had homecoming dances, proms, and junior / senior rivalries.And being a secondary school, we even had sex education classes. Which for some kids came a little too late and without enough reminders of consequence, as teenage pregnancy was also a major concern within schools in my neighborhood. Nevertheless, each of us at-risk kids (as I was called), have grown up to be adults -- with jobs, kids, families, and all of the normal worries of everyday life.

Looking back, I would not have described my school as frightening. It was a truly different world from my days at Cornell, living in Orange County, or working at an investment company. But considering I found a depth of friendship, love, and appreciation for the human spirit while there, I would not exchange my time at Gompers Secondary for anything.

Terms:

• "chink chase" = a derogatory term used for when individuals of Asian descent were menacingly chased by thugs threatening to do bodily harm
  
• gat = gun
• "hood" = slang term to refer to a neighborhood in a economically poor neighborhood