This is my ninth grade yearbook photo. I'm a little sorry to say that it's not that exciting. I have a feeling that the most embarrassing photos are behind me (thank god).
I was 15 years old in ninth grade. Moved over to the big "Intermediate High School" building which was kind of exciting. I went to a massive school district, so we had the middle school (7 & 8), intermediate (9 & 10) and senior high school (11 & 12).
It was in ninth grade that I felt my first real feeling of let down/discrimination. I had auditioned for our ninth grade play for the part of a newscaster (it was a play that my English teacher had written... I believe it was called Moon Children in the Promised Land to be exact.) I thought the audition went pretty well, but I found out the following day that I didn't get the part... A kid named Blaine Mountain got the role instead. I was bummed out, but quickly got over it. The truly disheartening fact was that my teacher, Mr. Watkins, decided to tell me that I didn't get the part because he thought a name like "Blaine Mountain" would look great on the program. HE SAID THAT TO MY FACE.
I then swore that I was going to audition under the stage name of XAVIER! from then on.
Other minor highlights included befriending 2 Japanese exchange students and learning to write my name in Japanese characters, and thoroughly hating on my biology class, which is still one of my most-hated classes to date (BEADS ARE NOT THE GREATEST, MR. WILHEM.)