Senior Year of School

The senior year of high school, what a pivotal time in a person's life. Jim Swarthow was a senior as average as any other of his time. He grew up in an average sized town in Tennessee, and attended a high school with the population of 1,200 students. As a student he made fair grades, yet never cracked a book when he left the doors of school heading home. School was not very important to Jim because his father had him helping the family business at a very young age. Although he never failed any courses in his school career, he never excelled either.

Jim ran with the popular crowd at his high school. He was an in guy that was more of follower than he was a leader. Ridgemont high school was your typical high school that had its typical cliqs. You had your cool guys, your nerds, your jocks, and your normal kids. The school was considered to be more middle class, with your fair share of upper class and lower class students. Jim was a middle class kid that wanted to have the appearance of a rich kid. Already making a fair amount of money helping run his fathers heating and Air Company, Jim would spend much of his money helping his appearance. Having the cool car on campus was what Jim enjoyed spending his free time on. He spent many hours and funds fixing up a 1976 Chevrolet impala. The car was in fair shape when Jim bought it from his father, but a new paint job was needed and he spent little time getting that deed taken care of. Jim had a new shade of pearl white paint put on the car to give it a remarkable look. Along with the paint job, Jim had many other revisions made to his baby. New tires, tented windows, and a booming audio system. You name it and Jim had it done to the car, he had fun fixing up the new car. Having his own car and being able to put time and money into the car gave Jim a great since of identity and freedom. By fixing the old car up, Jim knew he would be able to obtain any goal he had to overcome in his life.

Fixing up an old car was not the only exciting event that took place for Jim during his senior year. Although Jim did not participate on any athletics teams during his senior year, he was an avid supporter of all the teams. During the fall he would attend all the football games, no matter if they were at home or away. His younger brother played on the football team and he loved to go watch and support his brother. His brother was three years younger than Jim, and they were both very close to one another. When the football season would end, Jim could be found in the gymnasium supporting the basketball team. He had played basketball from the eighth grade until the tenth grade, but he realized the sport was not for him so he decided to reverse the role and become a fan instead. All of his friends attended the games as well; it was a cool and fun thing for Jim to engage in. After the games Jim and all of his friends would pack in their cars and head to the local taco bell, many of which would pack into Jim's so they could hear that great audio system he had spent many hours and pay checks fixing. Jim felt many of his classmates were fair weather friends who used him and his car for a ride, but he really did not mind because it was all in good fun. After the basketball season was over Jim was in the stands at the baseball field. He loved watching sports although he had little athletic ability. Jim realized athletics were not for him at an early age, although he had fun goofing around when he could. Baseball season was big at Jim's high school, because the team was always great and his best friend was on the team. Much to the same affect after the baseball games, Jim and his friends would gather at the local taco bell to goof off and to talk about where their lives were heading. Jim's best friend Fletch, who was on the baseball team, was like a brother to both Jim and his younger brother. Jim and Fletch had been friends since the third grade, and they had been through a lot together in all those years.

Girls were