Donald Garber:  

School My first two years of high school were at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington. This was an inner-city school, and I was bussed in from a middle class neighborhood. My freshman year (1981-82) I hated it. My sophomore year, I loved it. I made friends, I learned much about kids that weren't like me. Skin color can be just that: a color. The Seattle Public Schools, unfortunately, prepared me for nothing. When we moved to Southern California to the beautiful town of Tustin, and I went to Tustin High School, there were actual expectations of me to succeed. I rarely had to study in Seattle, and I got all B's and A's. Tustin kicked my butt - California schools are genuinely superior - at least, that's how I found Tustin Unified. My friends and acquaintences at Tustin, as I remember, were perfect young adults. There was NO violence, I think I saw one fight during my two years there. People were friendly and helpful - when I hear about stories teens nowadays have to face at school, I shudder. Tustin HS was a practical Garden of Eden. I regret that I didn't stretch out my academic and intellectual "legs"; I think I scraped by with a 2.6. When I started college in 1990 after leaving the Air Force, I maintained a 3.9 for two years at my community college in Shoreline, Washington. I also regret not having many friends in school. I was horribly shy and quiet and reserved as a teen. Seattle was my home, and Southern California was . . ., well, it wasn't home, and I wanted none of it. I hated the heat, there were no seasons, Orange County was flat and featureless and definately un-green! I was surrounded by so many nice young people, and I really wish I opened up and got to know some of them. I remember Mike Predney, Steve Gauer,Adam...Expand for more