How Things Have Changed

Well, as stated earlier, I decided to do a retrospective on the past few years of my life, but with a twist. I wanted to compare how things would have been different had I remained in Grenada during high school. This list took me longer than would be expected, mainly from the insane amounts of hysterical laughing that occured while typing alot of it. Enjoy!

Sports

Grenada: I played both soccer and baseball, although I wasn’t exceptional at either

Paris: Due to the weird nature of how TN schedules its high school athletics, I had to make a choice as to which sport to play. I chose soccer. I’m rather certain I became better than I would have been had I stayed in Grenada, especially my senior year. Coach Belong got me in the best shape of my life at that point. I was also closer to my soccer teammates here; they were a much more lively bunch. The TN teams were also far superior to even the best teams I played against in MS.

Athleticism

Grenada: Ok, I’ll be the first to admit it. I did just enough to get by in the sports. I mean, com’on, you could easily tell by looking at me. I was never inspired or pushed to do more.

Paris: Two words: the Loop. My first day of soccer conditioning… HOLY SHIT! Now I know that thing is only 1.5 miles long, but whoah. First off, I’m not the best endurance runner. Secondly, I had not seen it before, so it felt like it went on for ages! I knew right then that I’d have to keep in shape to keep up with the rest of the guys and earn my spot on the starting lineup. And I guess that attitude just stuck with me. Now I can smoke the loop, and I can run farther than I used to; however, I'm still the slowest out of my soccer friends when it comes to long distances.

Band

Grenada: Band was IT. Ultra competitive envorionment. I was prolly on my way to some sort of leadership role there. I would have been able to travel all over the country had I stayed. I also would have been on national tv during Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 2002.

Paris: Band? Ehh…not so much. Quit playing trombone and didn’t join the HCHS band; going from 325 members to less than 60 isn’t that inspiring. They were decent, don’t get me wrong; I just was used to a higher level.

Social Skills

Grenada: I had so many good friends, but I probably wasn’t as outgoing as I should have been. I was still shy to an extent, especially when it came to authoritative figures.

Paris: I guess being in a new town and being the new kid prompted me to meet new people. I tried to be more social and outgoing. I made tons of new friends here, and I became more comfortable talking and shooting up conversations with adults, teachers, etc.

Work

Grenada: Good god, who knows. I’m guessing I would have ended up at Video Shop or Video Store.

Paris: CornAustin is probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. I became good friends with Nick, Lauren, and the Wilsons. Bill Wilson is definitely a good person to know. This is when I actually began to care about how I looked.

Style

Grenada: Wow. Let’s just burn all the pics of me in 9^th grade. Style and good-looking appearances were not my friends.

Paris: Thank God for Cornaustin. Ok, I’m no Richard Sewell when it comes to style, but I’m sooooo much better off than I was in the pre-Cornaustin years.

Haircut

Grenada: I’d have the same dorky bowl cut Jim Carrey style(from Dumb and Dumber).

Paris: Thankfully, Katy Scammerhorn told me one day that I should try a different approach with my hair. Thank you Katy! Now I pretty much keep it short short.

Schooling

Grenada: Okay, I basically had one awesome teacher at GHS: Mrs. Rena Dantone. Damn, that woman was awesome. She taught Carolyn and John throughout high school, so that was a shame I didn’t receive the same. Other than that, however, GHS was rather sub par.

Paris: In contrast, HCHS had a deluge of great teachers (at least I thougth they were great). Rushing, Wade, Brashear, Bucy, Neese, Geller, Shankle. I was thankful to have teachers that really pushed me to think. All of them had one thing in common: they made the class fun. Much of my success so far in college is due to them, mainly Brashear, Bucy, and Geller. Damn. I shiver to think what I would have missed had I stayed at GHS.

Girl

Grenada: Haley Moore.

Paris: Mallory Hacker. Oh com’on! Can you blame me? She baked me cookies the first time I met her! No one else has ever baked me cookies, haha.

Posse

Grenada: Ahh, the historical triumvirate: Reggie, Trevor, and Henry. Unfortunately, just like the triforce, we were split after June 1, 2000. Trevor went south, I ventured north, and reggie stayed right there.

Paris: I don’t think a powerful trio such as that existed here, but I did make some very solid friends. Friends that could easily join me to form a force: Josh Collums, Joh-Michael, Matt Lewis, Travis Jones, Jacob Crouch.

Humility/Ego Check

Grenada: I somehow had the idea I was the shit in Grenada. I thought I was the cream of the crop when it came to academics. I guess I began to take it for granted…

Paris: Then I moved here…and quickly realized I wasn’t squat. Who was? Pretty much every one of my now-friends. SUPER SMART. And at the top? Miss Hacker. Humility is a great thing.

Football Pride

Grenada: born and raised Alabama fan. Everyone knew it. The Hornes were crimson.

Paris: sucks living in a town pretty much painted in Orange. When word got out that I was a Bama fan, I had to defend the Tide with vigor. It was much easier after Bama waxed TN in 2002.

Hockey?!

Grenada: Honestly, I had not one lick of interest in hockey. I hated it with a passion. Soccer, baseball, football, and in that order. Hockey was a last resort if I had to watch something on tv.

Paris: Enter Matt Lewis: “Hey henry, wanna come over and watch the Avalanche play the Red Wings?” The who?!?! So began my never-ending tutelage under Matt. I became completely enamored with hockey. It was fast. It was precise. It was graceful. It was the same mindset as soccer. Most importantly, the goalie position looked like the most fun thing to do in the entire world. From there, and after meeting Richard, I began playing in college and regularly keeping up with the NHL. To this day, I still learn stuff about hockey from Matt and Richard