FUN HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES CHALLENGE

80s & 90s Australian High School Memories

Big hair, big ambitions, and the Big Day Out

As a Gen Xer, I love a bit of nostalgia so I was super excited to see the “17 Question High School Days” challenge doing the rounds. A friend once told me I’m stuck in the 90s, to which I replied “whatever”.

Thanks to Lu Skerdoo for starting this fun challenge. And thanks to Buddy Gott for tagging me.

I thought you all might enjoy an Australian perspective since our high schools differ quite a bit from American ones. I’d say we’re closer to the British system.

In Australia, we wear uniforms, football isn’t a huge deal and high school (or secondary school) is generally Year 7 through to Year 12, although there are some middle schools.

I went to a private Baptist girls’ school in Melbourne, Australia. I’m not Baptist or religious but it was a pretty good school to go to. It’s not super unusual to go to a private school in Australia — 35.6% of Australian students are currently enrolled in non-government schools.

I went to high school from the late-80s until the early-90s. In the years I attended high school, we morphed from big shoulder pads and hair bands to flannel shirts and grunge. It was a great period for music, and I’m proud to be part of the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” generation.

Anyway, let’s dig a little deeper as I answer 17 high school memories questions.

1. What is the year you graduated?

1992. For my final year, I finished classes in October, took exams in November, and had some sort of speech night or graduation ceremony in December. We also had a break-up day before exams. Our theme was The Muppets and after we all went out for a fancy meal of gnocchi and nachos (not dressed as muppets) — cuisine I’d never heard of until then.

2. Did you carpool?

No, I walked.

My school was less than 2 km (1.2 miles in America) from my house. Also, in my state, we couldn’t get our driving license until we turned 18 and I don’t remember the few kids who turned 18 driving to school.

3. What kind of car did you drive?

None.

I didn’t get my first car until my early 20s. It was a 1986 Toyota Corolla. I’ve actually only owned two cars in my life, which many people think is weird.

4. It’s Friday night football-were you there?

What’s Friday night football?

I went to a girls’ school and in the 90s girls rarely played football. It would have been Australian Rules Football, anyway.

At my school, we played softball, netball, and hockey, plus swimming and athletics. I involved myself as little as possible and there was no such thing as Friday night sports.

5. What kind of job did you have?

Babysitting.

I think it should be mandatory for high school kids to have a wee job. They can learn financial responsibility and buy their own junk without hitting up their parents. Common after-school jobs were, and are, in supermarkets, McDonald’s, or some other crummy “restaurant” or take-out joint and babysitting.

6. Were you a party animal?

No.

My parents, uncles, and aunts were a max of 20 years older than me so they were still partying back then. Some of them still are. I rebelled by doing my homework.

7. Were you considered a jock?

No.

I don’t think girls’ schools had jocks. The only jocks I knew were the two footballers in Heathers.

8. Were you in the band?

No, unless you count the school choir.

I was briefly in a guitar ensemble, actually, but I was a horrible guitarist on account of never practising so this was a short-lived endeavour.

9. Were you a nerd?

Let’s just say I read the dictionary like it was a novel.

10. Did you get suspended?

No, I never even got detention.

We used to get “black marks” (probably can’t use that terminology today) and if you got three black marks in a term you’d get a detention. I only ever got two black marks per term for stuff like forgetting my sports uniform and not handing in my homework.

If you were really naughty, you could get instant detention, like the time someone wrote “c*nt” on the blackboard.

11. Can you sing the fight song?

I don’t know what that is.

We had a school song and I can still hum the tune. The first line was “not for our own but others’ good”, which was also our school motto. I didn’t really apply that motto, I’m afraid to say.

12. What was your High School mascot?

We didn’t have one.

Our school colours were royal blue and gold (or you could just say blue and yellow). I think they introduced magenta soon after I left.

13. If you could go back and do it all again, would you?

Sure, it’d be fun.

I’d love to have my current brain in my 17-year-old body back in the awesome early 90s. I wouldn’t give a shit about the stuff that intimidated me back then (pretty much everything) and I’d have arguments with the religious education teacher. I’d invest my babysitting money in stocks and go to awesome concerts like the 1992 Big Day Out, where Nirvana played for the first and only time in Australia.

14. Are you still in contact with people from high school?

I never lost contact with three friends from school.

I got back in contact with a lot of the others through Facebook and my school organises reunions every five years, which I go to if I’m in Melbourne.

15. Do you know where your high school crush is?

I went to a girls’ school and I like boys, so there was no high school crush. Well, I did like a few boys from other schools and I don’t know where they are today.

16. What was your favourite subject?

English and English literature followed by history.

In our senior high-school years, we had to fill a maths and science quota so I had to drop lit for maths which I was extremely sad about.

17. Do you still have your high school ring?

I don’t know what that is.

They gave us bibles when we graduated but mine’s either long gone, burnt up in one of my brother’s satanic rituals, or collecting dust at my parent’s house.

For more high school memories, check out Lu’s and Buddy’s stories:

And here are some of my memories from primary (elementary) school:

I’d love to hear your memories too! Tag me in your story or tell me about them in the comments.

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