Melissa Bruen:  

My story, for Classmates.com purposes, started at St. Isidore School in Kindergarten. For nine years I tried my hardest but pretended not to, failed more than I succeeded and hovered at the social fringe of a too-small community; a self-made misfit. I learned independence and self-reliance. My small pond grew when I went to Yuba City High School. By no means a 'popular kid' I managed to always have a pretty large and usually very nice network of friends; a novelty after my self-imposed social awkwardness of St. Isidore's. I did okay for myself; was a cheerleader one year, caused a little havoc with the Drama class for a couple of years and became rather lethal with a tall flag. I even spoke at graduation, though definitely not because of my grades or social status. I learned to balance my priorities, to multi-task and to put out the least amount of effort for the most amount of reward. College at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo is when I really became me. I was finally comfortable in my own skin and had developed the beginnings of social grace. I moved in small circles of select friends. I kept myself from getting into too much trouble by being a nanny, forcing me to remain a good roll-model. I developed a passion for travel and I discovered that I am good at helping people and teaching children. After college I traveled around Europe for a while. It was a blast. I worked ...Expand for more