My High School Paper Senior Interview

Name:
Location: Missouri, United States

This will be a real challenge to fill out! I see myself as a rather complex person who enjoys the simple things in life and who also enjoys a simple life. I like to think that I have a low threshold for satisfaction (meaning, it does not take too much to make me happy) except in one key area: I am very judicious and choosy about the women who I spend my quality time with and I readily admit that, rightly or wrongly, I possess the 'flaw' of allowing only attractive, intelligent women to get close to me. Although my preferred way of being is humorous, I can be serious with the best of them. Conversely, although people who know me well know that I am bright and somewhat intelligent, I'd much rather be silly! As I told my family doctor a few years ago, "When I look back on my life, I see that I've had a charmed life, with a few stresses." Also, I can tell a lot about a person from what newspapers and magazines they subscribe to. In my case: The Wall Street Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, NEWSWEEK, U.S. News & World Report, ASTRONOMY, Sky & Telescope, The Planetary Report. Today, I am adding a blog of my favorite poem, 'Desiderata', which I believe was inspired.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

My Revealing High School Paper Senior Interview, April 7, 1972

Shown below is the senior interview that I gave for my high school paper, published on April 7, 1972, which consists of answering questions that have been asked for many years in this school paper. I would not recall the specifics of the interview I gave until Spring, 1991, which was about nine months after my psychiatrist asked me the life-changing question, "If you are this person, what are you worried about?" I obtained a copy of this interview from the now retired business teacher, Mrs. Harmon, in August, 1991, just after I had moved to Hannibal and when I was metaphorically "rolling up my sleeves" to get ready to exert what influence that I possessed on a worldwide scale during the upcoming years---which would turn out to only be a rather simple letter-writing effort.

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Last for this issue, and for the entire year is 'Supersweet101'. His solution to the economic trouble is the most original I have heard this year: "Take from the rich, give to the poor, and pocket 5%." To improve the high school, he would give the seniors more privileges and responsibilities. Mr. Davenport is his candidate for principal. His favorites are:

Color---Midnight Blue
TV Show---Sanford and Son
Movie---Ben-Hur
Actor---Charlton Heston
Actress---Joey Heatherton
Singer---Don McClean
Song---Heart of Gold
Recording group---Bread
Book---Alas Babylon
Author---John Steinbeck
Car---'67 Impala or '62 Bel-Air
Food---Pizza
Pastime---Listening to music
Hobbies---Taping music and beating (my brother) Chris at basketball 80% of the time
Cartoon---Pink Panther
Comic Strip---Peanuts
Subject---Geometry
School Activity---Coaching girls' softball
Sport---Football
Sport's Figure---Vida Blue

The second hour study hall bunch is Supersweet101's pet peeve (this study hall was made up of me, my sophomore friend, Kevin O'Bannon, and the 7th and 8th grade classes--the study hall teacher, Ms. Holman, the Home Ec. teacher, observed that the junior high girls took to me so well in this study hall that she called them 'my harem'), and Jesus Christ is his idol. If he were to change his identity, he says that he would be a soaring eagle because he hasn't a care in the world. Tahiti is Supersweet101's choice for the 51st state. In the next decade he would like to see an efficient mass transit system developed. Supersweet101 plans to attend the University of Missouri at Rolla next year. Sue R.

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After I reread (and was amazed by) my senior interview in 1991 for the first time in the 19 years since I gave it, I thought, "I guess that my first 34 years weren't entirely secular ones after all," as I had entitled the brief chapter of my memoir that covers my life between my birth through my divorce:

"My First 34 Years---A Secular Life."