My method of eating pizza is weird. I begin by taking a bite from the crust, and then a bite from the front. I do this until only half the crust is remaining, and then I only take bites from the front of the pizza until there is roughly a 1:1 ratio of pizza and crust remaining. To finish the pizza, I eat it from the side.I do this because I love the crust most when it is eaten with the pizza at the same time. Traditionally, we eat our way up to the plain boring crust, which is often either discarded or reluctantly consumed. As the big hungry hippo that I am, I wouldn’t want to leave a single crumb untouched, so I discovered this strategy to truly enjoy my pizza. Some might say I’m crazy, and they might be right, but eating pizza this way was one of the first times I felt truly empowered by something unique to myself. I was going against the norm in a way that didn’t harm others (I hope) and was, frankly, very useful (I will die on this hill). However, I wasn’t always comfortable going against the norm.
My sophomore year of highschool was the breaking point in my soccer career. After a slew of injuries, I found myself hating the sport I thought I loved more than anything. I spent every living minute reading, watching, and playing. Soon, I started to dread every practice, every game, and every moment playing soccer. Soccer was no longer for me. My friends, who had noticed my growing disdain, offered me a way out through Ultimate Frisbee, where teams wore tutus in the finals, played duck-duck-goose during halftime, or exchanged rubber ducks after a hard fought game. I hadn’t experienced such spirit while playing soccer. Even still, I begrudgingly attended my first Ultimate practice and, despite the fast and cold wind, I enjoyed the practice. I enjoyed it so much, I went to my first game and, eventually, tournament. In only three months, I had completely dumped soccer for frisbee and in the next coming years I’d begin to play at some of the highest levels of ultimate in the country.
At a first glance, there may seem like only one way to eat pizza, but not everyone prefers eating pizza from the front. You could roll it up, fold it like a sandwich, or even eat it from the side. Similarly to high school, there isn’t one way to go about completing it. Sticking with soccer was the same as eating pizza the “standard” way. When that standard method failed me, I found my own way to enjoy high school. At LM, there are many opportunities and people here to help you discover your path through adolescence. Hopefully this way, you can enjoy high school almost as much as I enjoy pizza.
