11. Who I Was in High School 11. Quién era en el instituto 11. Qui j'étais au lycée 11.高校時代の私 11. Quem eu era no liceu

Gooood morning Hank, it's Tuesday.

So, we're undergoing a pretty significant office reorganization project, and along the way I found a lot of documents from my past like, uh, this old picture of me. Итак, мы занимаемся довольно важным проектом по реорганизации офиса, и по пути я нашел много документов из моего прошлого, например, эту мою старую фотографию.

Good news, little me. Your braces are going to come off! ブレースが外れる！ In six more years. I also found this somewhat newer picture of me. このやや新しい私の写真も見つけました。 I'm not sure if this is a photograph, but it's definitely realistic. これが写真かどうかはわかりませんが、間違いなくリアルです。

And from 2006, my favorite fan mail ever, "In regards to Looking For Alaska I can honestly say that after putting your book down I felt a feeling that I had not felt before. そして2006年からの私のお気に入りのファンメールは、「Looking For Alaskaに関して、あなたの本を置いた後、今まで感じたことのない感覚を感じたと正直に言うことができます. It was not a sickness, like I was going to throw up. 吐きそうな病気ではありませんでした。 Or a feeling like I had to take a crap or anything. または、がらくたか何かを取らなければならなかったような気分。 But I felt something." でも何かを感じた」

Your book made me feel something, man. あなたの本は私に何かを感じさせました、男。 Not the two main things I feel: the urges to defecate and vomit, but something new. 私が感じる2つの主なものではありません.排便と嘔吐の衝動ですが、何か新しいものです. And Hank, I also found, from way back in 1994, some of my report cards. ハンクも、1994 年にさかのぼって、私の通知表のいくつかを見つけました。

This is from my junior year of high school, Hank. これは高校3年生のハンクからです。 I got a C- in Latin, "John went into a tailspin in this course during the last 6 weeks. 私はラテン語で C- を取得しました。「ジョンは、このコースで過去 6 週間、追い風になりました。 He missed too many classes and seldom was prepared for the daily lesson." 彼はあまりにも多くの授業を欠席し、毎日の授業の準備がほとんどできていませんでした。」 Yeah, that's Latin; that's a dead language. ええ、それはラテン語です。それは死んだ言語です。 This is from my, uh, French - got a B- in French, not to brag. これは私の、ええと、フランス語からのものです - フランス語でB-を取得しました。自慢するためではありません。 "It's safe to say that John underachieved this year." 「今年、ジョンは成績が振るわなかったと言っても過言ではありません。」 Hmm. American history, I got a B, "John managed to get to class more often during the final trimester, and his grade came up - a bit." アメリカの歴史、私は B を獲得しました。 That wasn't necessary, to say "A bit." 「ちょっと」と言うには、それは必要ありませんでした。

Could have just ended it at my grade came up. It's technically accurate. I got a C- in Pre-Calc, which frankly, was probably generous. In chemistry, C. And in English I got a, uh, C-, "Incredible potential as an English student, but he's reached a juncture where he just can't mail it in anymore."

Hank, I don't talk much about what a terrible student I was in high school. I think partly because I'm still embarrassed about it, 20 years later. I did miss a lot of classes, you know, because they were early, or because they conflicted with my schedule of smoking cigarettes in the woods.

But even when I attended class, I was still a pretty terrible student. Hank, you know how you become the third best C-student in the entire state of Alabama at academic decathlon? First by getting terrible grades so you're not an A or B student.

And that's who I was in high school. I underachieved, and I skipped classes, and I didn't do my homework, and I didn't do the reading, and I was always behind and stressed out. Meanwhile, Hank, you were getting great grades, and not smoking cigarettes, and then you'd get a scholarship to college and everything.

Anyway, Hank, coming across these report cards made me think a couple things. The first is that I was incredibly lucky. Like I didn't just get a second chance -- I got hundreds of chances. And even though I was a crap student, I still had excellent teachers who continued to believe in me despite my not giving them a reason to.

The other thing these old report cards made me think about, Hank, was this: High school is not destiny. It's part of life, but I feel like when you're in high school, people act like it's the most important thing you'll ever do, and like the whole course of your life is being decided.

But at least so far as I can tell, the course of your life isn't decided. Ever. Most of the time it's not like there's one fork in the road, and you choose one, or you choose the other. There are hundreds of forks in the road every day that you're alive.

College is also not destiny. For the record, I was a much better college student than I was a high school student. Also your 20s are not destiny! Your 30s are not destiny! Like, destiny is not something that happens all at once. It's something that happens only in retrospect.

Hank, when I was in high school, I thought I was just, kind of, a screw up. You know? But in the end, Hank, people aren't just one thing. Like I WAS a screw up, but I was also a pretty good reader.

And looking at those old report cards, I just want to thank my teachers for knowing that I wasn't just a screw up - even when I didn't know it.

Hank, I'll see you on Friday.