9th Grade Field Trip

Man, 9th grade. What a crazy year that was for me. If someone were to ask me what was my top 3 years in school were, 7th grade would be my top because it was my favorite and maybe 10th or 11th grade would be my third favorites while 9th grade would be my second favorite.

There was a lot that happened to me in 9th grade, not as much as 7th grade but it was still a crazy time. There were a few bad moments like how I almost got into a fight during class and I yelled "Fuck you" as loud as I could, the teacher got on me about it and it just pissed me off more but it's whatever. Other than that, I was hanging out with friends a lot and even found my drug of choice during that time: music.

You're probably yelling at your screen for me to get to the point or maybe you're asking what does any of this have to do with the field trip, hold your horses, I'm getting there. Now, in 7th grade, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide on Nickelodeon had ended with the field trip episode and I had kind of built these preconceived notions about how I'd want the field trip to end at the time but when I got to 9th grade, there was a thing I had to do first to earn a chance at getting the field trip and that was to sell chocolate bars. I forgot why we had to sell them but all I remember was that if you got to sell $25 worth of chocolate bars, then you were good to go from there.

So after $25 worth of chocolate bars, I was ready to go on a field trip and of course, I was wondering if I was going to end the field trip on a high note like Ned, Moze, and Cookie. Granted, they're made-up characters but still, a guy can dream, right? Anyways, my story was a little more interesting compared to a TV show. I was crushing on two gals at the time and they both deserve a story of their own so we'll call them... Minnie and Margot, Minnie was a kind of a country gal and she dated a friend of mine at first but I ended up catching feelings for her. Margot was a girly girl who had some edge to her and I liked that about her, if I'm being honest, I'm sure I caught feelings for her as soon as I met her.

I ended up on separate buses from Minnie and Margot, I'm sure they did too. I didn't want to risk doing anything stupid around them so I ended up on a bus with a few friends that I can goof off with because one thing that's important about me is that if I can goof around with some friends while I have feelings for someone, I won't have to deal with my feelings for it as much. I just use humor as a distraction that helps for a while. Anyways, we get to Seattle and the fun is already in motion.

We go on a ferry that takes us to the city in Downtown Seattle. We got off from there and walked a lot, I stuck with my friend, Cliff a lot. He was there to have fun as well but he liked Margot too, maybe more so than I did. Then, we ended up at a candy shop which was practically like the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when everyone sees the factory for the first time with the candy all over the place and Gene Wilder is singing the classic song, "Pure Imagination". It felt just like that when I went there and I didn't want to leave but we had to because we got on a bus and went to some kind of dam or something, I forgot what it was and that's where we met up with Margot and Minnie along with everyone else who wasn't on the bus, it was boring at first because we went on some kind of tour but once we got to relax and hang out, that's when everything picked up again.

We left the dam and we went to the EMP, which I believe it stood for Experimental Music Project or Experienced Music Project, something like that. It was like an art gallery but for music and musicians, I saw a Jimi Hendrix exhibit and it had one of the guitars that he used to play. There was even footage of him playing in concert, it was awesome to see. I don't remember much after that but I do remember leaving the place and going to Seattle Center because that's when the day became even more amazing.

At the Seattle Center, there was a lot of stuff to do like go to the Space Needle and ride the elevator to the top, go get some smoothies, check out some restaurants, and even see the KeyArena where they hold concerts and some other performances. We just couldn't go as far as the theatres and the park that was near us. I stayed with Cliff but Margot did end up joining us for a while and that's when I was seriously hoping for the best for me and Margot. I was about to take a chance by talking to her about my feelings for her but she told us she was going to go hang out with some other people and it was okay, it ended up just being me and Cliff again.

After a hangout session, it was time to go home and it ended up being a pretty sleepy ride back home because it's been a long day for us. I even fell asleep. The trip ended as soon as we rode back to the school and our parents were waiting for us to drive us back home.

The more I think about it, the happier I get but at the same time, I'm a little grateful that it wasn't like the end of Childish Gambino's "Camp" where I just tell Margot and it doesn't work out terribly but I learn something out of it and I learn something deeper from it as well. The whole trip was an all-around good time and if it was possible to live through that again, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd slightly change a few things but I'd still go again.