At the end of my studies at East Mountain High School in Sandia Park, NM…
I was tasked with a project called a Senior Exhibition. The project was a means to reflect on my time in high school and explore my personal growth. In the project, students would build their personal narratives around a theme.
My theme involved playing cards, and I explored my life as a “jack of all trades.” In high school, I was involved in Speech and Debate very heavily, attending the National Tournament twice and becoming 2011 State Champion in Policy Debate as well as Dramatic Interpretation. I played in the school’s contemporary Recording Arts ensemble. I got a 4.0 GPA. I didn’t drink or do drugs, and somehow, I was one of the “cool kids.”
East Mountain High School was a very small school with a curious power to impart to its students that each and every one of them is a special little snowflake. My graduating class had about 70 students was sheltered from the size of the world. And then, I went to college.
The first thing that struck me in college courses was how little my opinion actually mattered. I spent the first year of college as that annoying kid in class that would make points to appear smart, and scoff at my peers. That phase ended quickly when I realized that I was alienating myself. Nobody in college cared about who I was.
I became extinct.
Being a dinosaur isn’t all bad. In fact, dinosaurs are really cool. The t-rex had teeth to shred flesh and jaws to puncture armor. The velociraptor had the intellect for complex social hierarchies, and the agility for quick and brutal attacks.
But their time came to an end. The sun set on the dinosaurs so that others could take their place. The dinosaurs were fossilized, and the carbon decay turned them to oil. Oil is something that everybody still needs and wants, but nobody really wants to applaud the oil.
So I guess I’m oil now.
I have begun to enjoy a life of quiet normalcy. I actually kind of like being extinct – it’s far more relaxing than having to do stuff. I’ll just do my thing, quietly in the background, making the world a better place.
And I still push myself to succeed. Maybe my success will be lauded, or maybe it won’t. But as long as I’m happy, it doesn’t really matter to me.
tim.is.a.dinosaur 