I left high school having taken the AP Math and Science classes. I was considered a nerd but, trust me, there were a lot of much nerdier (and smarter) kids than I. I also hung out with the stoners, the jocks and the gearheads. For some reason I was able to chat with all of them and I liked the diversity.
When I got to UCLA, I started out taking math and science classes but quickly found that I just couldn't relate to these people. They were monomaniacal- driven to have their TI-95 calculators and slide rules out all the time. It wasn't the classwork. I felt stifled and thought I would suffocate.
Luckily, UCLA is a big place and they don't really expect you to choose your major the first year, so I took classes in different departments looking for my tribe. Finally I found them- in the English Literature Department.
Here were people who liked to talk about ideas, liked to sit in coffee houses chatting until the wee hours, and the women were bohemian with big appetites and big laughs, seemingly unafraid of anything.
I dated around, got serious a couple of times, and managed to graduate with a degree I had no idea what to do with. Eventually I ended up going to art school and with the three disciplines have been able to make a pretty good living since.
About 5 years out of college, I was in the market of all places when I ran into Jessica, one of the women I had spent many an hour with in coffee houses. We had never dated, probably because I did go out with one of her good friends in college.
She seem very happy to see me. We finished our shopping and went for a cup of coffee. I had a great time catching up and noticed her confidence in herself had really grown. She said she was house sitting at this amazing huge house in Sherman Oaks and that I should stop by to visit. She said she'd fix me dinner. I like invitations like that- full of possibility.