Hal Harden:  

My time at SSHS was mix of good and bad: Socially, I had no clue. I was raised by sheltered and naive parents, so I learned little about life in the real world. I was awkward in personal interactions, and I did not make friends easily. I was not part of the popular cliques (FF or SS), so I co-founded the SEF and made mischief. I knew how to "do business" when the situation required, but I was always a rebel, a loner, and an outsider at heart. Much later I learned that I am a Jungian ISTJ, and an extreme introvert. Now it all makes sense. I had no trouble with academics, and I made A's and B's without studying. I was great at standardized tests, often scoring in the top one percentile nationally. My early acceptance letter from Emory was dated September 1 of my senior year, so I never worried about getting into college. I was very proud to make the varsity football team at the end of my sophomore year. My junior year I rarely got into a game, but I never missed a minute of practice. In my senior year, I played in every game, starting at TE and/or DE about half the time. During the fourth game of my senior year against Sprayberry, I started on all four teams: offense, defense, kicking, and receiving. I was small for a lineman (155#) and slower than an hourglass. I wore glasses while playing because of my 5:200 vision. With my "birdcage" facemask, I had no fear of hitting or being hit, and I did my share of both. I was never a stand-out player, but I won some battles and steadily got better. I was proud of what I accomplished. Nobody worked harder at it or gained more self-confidence from it. I was the only football player on the chess team, usually seeded fourth on the team in interscholastic competitions. My varsity letter in swimming was just an easy way to get out of the house. Away from school, I joined the Atlanta Judo Club, specializing in jujitsu. The nerd role was natural for me, so I grew and strengthened myself with the athletics. Three years in the Army made a big difference in my life. I was pushing troops at 18, managing two departments in Frankfurt, Germany for HQ US Army Europe at 19, and managed a personnel department, supervised BOQ guards, and worked as CQ at a residency "hotel" in Saigon at 20. My illegal Suzuki 80 could outrun any 90cc Honda or any "white mouse" on a Harley. For me, Vietnam was "Animal House East". I slept after I got home. After a year of commercial banking which I hated, I got into data processing in 1968 as a computer operat...Expand for more