Past and Present - 30 Years Later

There's nothing like an old high school group photo being posted to Facebook to stir memories - especially when that photo is one that I lost in a house fire in 1995, and never thought to see again. I am very grateful to Lawrence Wong for taking the time and trouble to scan, stitch, crop, upload and then (after he heard of my loss) rescanning at 600dpi so I could reminisce at high resolution.

The photo was taken in the summer of 1979, just before my transition from high school to university. I thought it would be interesting to see just how much some of us have changed in over thirty years, given that social networking makes finding contemporary photos so easy. To the right is a collage I put together, placing the school version next to today's version - Facebook profile pictures in most cases, although four of us are "public figures" to the extent that official publicity photos can easily be found via a Google search.

Yes, that's me at top left. No prizes there. I was such a fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked young thing at seventeen. My main mental anguish at the time was my unpopularity among my peers, which I was convinced stemmed from my odd appearance - though I see no trace of either when I look back at this image. Did I change substantially in the years which followed, almost two thirds of my life? It's hard for me to be objective about such an assessment, but I think there's still a resemblance there. What say you, gentle readers?

On to other girls

Kate was one of my best friends. We shared a study in our final year, and she was the first person to ever spontaneously praise my sense of humor. I recall walking with her one day, heading back to the Chemistry master's house where we were lodging, and I said something witty in response to a remark she made. I don't even know what I said, but I will never forget that she paused, and laughed, and then said "You know, Snooker [my nickname at the time], you're really funny!" It was perhaps the best compliment I'd ever received. Kate was musical, and a member of the chapel choir, as well as being into drama in a big way. However, she was always slightly introverted and I could never see her becoming a big star of stage and screen. In thinking about it, the fact that she ended up as the personal assistant to Elaine Paige was probably the most perfect career for her. And from her photo, I don't think she's changed one bit!

Ah, Dawn. What can I possibly say about Dawn. She was the first person I met when I started school at Kelly - we arrived on grounds at the same moment, although I was a boarder and she was a daygirl. We hung out with the same crowd, though we were never close. She was loud, brash, extrovert and confident, with a strong Lancashire accent. Dawn was a complete tomboy to the extent that she would wear Doc Martens with the compulsory skirts we had to wear for trips into town. Feminine clothes always looked wrong on her. Dawn is now Chairman and Chief Executive of Channel 5 in the UK, and her forthright manner has earned her the soubriquets "Scary Airey" and "Zulu Dawn". In 2006 she was named as one of the 100 most influential gay and lesbian people in the UK by the Independent.

From the Telegraph's media diary:

The What Not To Wear Edinburgh Special was always going to be one of the more controversial ideas for this year's television festival, given that it involves Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine dispensing fashion tips to, ahem, senior television executives. The Sky Networks chief Dawn Airey and BBC2 controller Jane Root have volunteered for a makeover, but the stunt is not going smoothly. This week, the pair took the forthright Ms Airey on a shopping trip and tried to make her wear a bright purple knee-length jacket. She hated it, saying she looked like a gay bishop. There has also been heated debate over trousers that zip up at the back. These, too, have gone down badly with Ms Airey, who is insisting they find her some that zip up at the front.

Seems Dawn hasn't changed much either in looks or personality, although her publicity photos do show her with a slimmer figure, looking pretty smooth in executive suits.

Sharron arrived at the school as I was starting my final year. She was two years behind me, and her arrival caused quite a stir as she was already an international swimming star, and Kelly had built an Olympic-sized swimming pool especially to entice her to enroll (along with her father as the new swimming coach). Other Olympic hopefuls started with her, but she was the "main attraction". I never really became friends with her, but during the BBC's filming of a documentary of her life, I did find myself sitting next to her in chapel which resulted in my left ear appearing on television - my one and only broadcast appearance to date. From the photos I've seen, Sharron has maintained her athlete's figure and muscles, and hasn't changed much in any other physical respect, either.

Miranda was one of the two "Mirandas" - best friends who shared a first name. She was a year below me, but memorable for several reasons. She was very tall - probably close to six foot, and she had a glass eye. I recall her having an aptitude for both music and athletics, and a very friendly disposition. Her present day photos show her as looking much the same, still towering over several male colleagues, and having a heavy involvement in Ceretas, the professional organization for Home Care workers. I was saddened to learn that her Facebook activity, together with several other contemporaries was triggered by the untimely passing of the "other" Miranda.

And now on to the boys

Patrick and I were in the upper tier of the physics class together, although we were never close. He was a rather shy boy with a passion for boats and the outdoors. I remember that he was one of the few who stayed on an extra term in order to take the tough entrance exam to Oxford/Cambridge. The only public photos on his Facebook profile are of boats, so I'm guessing not much has changed there. However, I can't really see the resemblance between the seventeen year old Patrick, and the forty-seven year old one. Of all the paired photos I came up with, this one is perhaps the least similar.

Paul was two years below me, a contemporary of Sharron's. He came to the school with an existing reputation as a rugby player, perhaps because his physical development was ahead of his peers - he didn't look two years younger than me. He was tall, and well-built and I have a suspicion the headmaster hoped he would be the first of a wave that would give the school a similar rugby reputation as the one it was already developing for swimming. My main memories of Paul were tutoring him in mathematics, which was something he struggled with. He put aside, or was unaware of the stigma attached to associating with me in order to bring his homework into my study, where I would help him understand fundamental mathematical concepts in the hopes that he would eventually be able to see where the answers were coming from and work them out for himself. These days, Paul appears to be heavily involved in coaching rugby, and this Facebook picture shows him playing a guitar - the face has changed a little, and the hair has changed a lot, but I can see the young boy in there still.

Simon - not much to be said here that can't be seen from the picture. Always a practical joker, and troublemaker, Si was extrovert and friendly, although not one of the "popular" crowd. As you can see, he was the only person in the whole school who was not looking at the camera when the group photo was taken, and still has not mastered the art of posing for photos. His Facebook profile information is obviously meant to be taken with a grain of salt:

Relationship Status:	Married
Interested In:	Women Men
Looking For:	Random play Whatever I can get
Political Views:	Very Liberal
Religious Views:	Strict drinker
Activities:	As little as possible, Kipping on sofas
Interests:	Boobs and Boats
Favorite Quotations:	I'm Pink, Therefore I'm Spam
About Me:	I'm jolly gorgeous in a well camoflaged sort of way
Employer:	Hastings Council
Position:	Road Sweeper
Description:	I clean up other peoples muck.

Has Simon changed? Barely at all, in my estimation.

Damian - ah, yes. Another with a "public profile" though perhaps not for the best reasons. I had a faint crush on Damian in school, and now I'm really glad that's all it was! Damian was a year above me, head boy, and a sports star. However, all that pressure led to him failing his exams so badly that he stayed on another year, where he fell into disgrace after it was discovered he was one of those responsible for some bottles of whiskey that were found under the couch in the study I shared with Kate and Sue. I sensed he blamed me for the discovery, although I can't remember the details of how they came to the notice of our housemaster. Damian went on to an illustrious career as a military officer, and now runs a business consulting company that makes other companies more successful. Or something. In the photos, he looks similar, but with a complete loss of hair.

Narian is included here because he is the younger brother of Cézar, one of the few boys that would talk to me - we had both math and physics classes together. They were two of the cluster of Jordanians at the school. I had a very brief relationship with Cézar - it barely lasted a few hours, in fact! Once the news got out, the poor boy was teased so badly that he failed his driving test the next day, and never spoke to me again. I don't recall interacting with Narian much, but apparently he remembers me. Once again, the facial resemblance persists, but the hair is all gone. Or rather, it migrated from the top of the head to the chin.

David was one of those with whom I interacted slightly in school, but who seemed overjoyed to connect with me again on Facebook, and often comments on my "stuff". In fact, he may be reading this right now! (Hi, Dave!) In my mind, the connection between the past and present photos is obvious, and shows the same joy for life now that he had back when he was a member of the field hockey team. He was one of those who wasn't friendly or hostile, but fell into that vast chasm in between, interacting when the circumstances needed it, but not proactively reaching out.

Alex was another in that category. Tall and slightly overweight, he seemed a little shy of girls although I remember him being friendly to those he had classes with, which included Dawn. Again, Alex was one of the first to reconnect with me, back on the UK-based Friends Reunited web site several years ago. Alex doesn't appear to have changed much physically since his school days, although he looks a lot happier!

Ah, Mike - aka Mr Loader - aka MJL - aka "Gloria". One of the earliest and strongest influences on my life, he was the primary Physics teacher, and someone who made a deep impression on me. I recall arriving early for class one time, as he was still preparing the materials for an experiment measuring the radioactivity of uranium samples with a geiger counter. I took my seat at a bench while he was opening the safe where the samples were kept. The next thing I knew, he turned around, and shouted "Catch!" as he threw a small container towards me. Strangely I managed to catch it, despite my very poor coordination skills - I think autopilot kicked in! I'm just assuming it was sealed well enough that the uranium wouldn't have ended up all over the floor if I had missed...

Mike believed in my abilities enough to chose me as one of only three to receive extra tutoring and be entered for the higher 'S-Level' exam. I still feel regret that I failed it, due to making a fatal mistake somewhere in the equations for deriving the length of a solar year from gravitational first principles. He was passionate about the subject and passed much of that on to me. After the final exams, when we were all at a loose end, he introduced me to my first computer - a DIY kit with a single numerical keypad, and a 2 digit LED display, which could be programmed in machine language to add two numbers together. I'm sure he had no idea what he was starting!! He was also passionate about amateur radio and boats, hobbies which he pursues to the current day. Has he changed in thirty years? Maybe a little less hair, but I can still see the man that inspired me in what was to become my eventual career.

Femi came from a prominent political and legal family in Nigeria, who decided their children would benefit from an English education. If you already have a stereotype in your head, you can keep it right there - Femi fits it to a tee. I was always rather intimidated by him, even though he did attempt to be friendly. He excelled in sports at school, and did well enough academically to succeed at university. And guess what - he's now a prominent lawyer and politician in Nigeria! Like the rest of the guys, he has less hair now than he did thirty years ago, but the facial features are pretty much the same.