I truly hated school, it was boring!! I dropped out of High School in 1972 and never, ever regretted it. I tend to talk a LOT about Arts High School in Newark because it's the last school I went to ('69-'72) and here on the 50th anniversary of my BEGINNING there, my time (as in "PRISON time," Lol) at Arts is very much on my mind. (The photo, by the way, shows the school as it USED to look when I went, it's been modernized since then.)
Even in PRISON, though I've never been there, they say you can pick up things that will help you in life or even CHANGE your life...and I can see now that God was AT WORK in my life, even before I knew Him, there at Arts.
1.) I LEARNED NOT TO BE A RACIST. Before I went to Arts, at age 14, just about everyone in my life that was older than me was racist. The Newark riots of 1967 didn't help, neither did the abuse I took from mean black kids in 8th grade, in 1968. I wound up in Arts High in '69 because I had artistic talent and, because it was a MAGNET school there were no racial problems. I was told that the kids there were more "refined" and not "troublemakers." I didn't realize that Arts was predominantly black...I guess my racism made me think it would be mostly WHITE, you see.
Anyway, my HOMEROOM TEACHER was white but the kids in my homeroom were mostly BLACK...and my teacher died suddenly of a heart attack a few days into the school year as he was running for a bus!! When a BLACK woman became my NEW homeroom teacher, I went to the (white) principal and actually asked to be TRANSFERRED. I know there are liars today who preach that "you can't be racist if you're in the minority group" but I was a racist in the minority as I began at Arts High!! Anyway, the Principal DENIED my request, I had to STAY in that homeroom and I had to learn to get along with the black teacher and students...and I did.
The fact that Bill Cosby's popular, new sitcom in '69 had his name as "CHET Kincaid" was a real help. Soon, I was very popular with ALL of my fellow students. Below is a photo of my class, I''m in the upper left (this was Fall of 1970)....the guy next to me was SPANISH, by the way. And the girl on the far right, Chanda, was the first girl I ever thought I was in love with.
2.) I LEARNED I HAD A PASSION FOR WRITING. To that point (age 14), I'd never read much besides Marvel Comics but at Arts High I was exposed to EDGAR ALLAN POE and I loved his short stories and poems. I began writing short stories and poems myself, and passed them around the class for the kids to read (which increased my popularity). These I worked on rather than HOMEWORK so my grades began to fail, but I didn't care and neither did the "adults" in my life.
At that time, Arts High only had ART or MUSIC, there were no Creative Writing courses and so I neglected my art and pursued WRITING, which was then my PASSION. Obviously, I still have that passion TODAY...the fact that this is blog #264 proves THAT, Lol!!
At present, some of my earliest poems, in my original handwriting, are being reproduced on my "Writing" Facebook page. These were faithfully preserved by my dear friend JOHN for 50 years. Here's the link...just go to Facebook, search these words and check the top 2 posts. More will be forthcoming SOON, Lord Willing.
Writing From Whiting- Poems by Chet Jelinski
Finally, 3.) I LEARNED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LORD, FROM A NON-CATHOLIC STANDPOINT, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME THERE AT ARTS!! Remember those black kids I was originally afraid of?? GOD USED THEM TO SOW SEEDS IN MY LIFE, DIFFERENT INSIGHTS ABOUT WHO HE IS, THAT WERE EVENTUALLY "WATERED" BY SOMEONE ELSE A FEW YEARS LATER. And, in 1975, God SAVED me!! I've been His child ever since. So though school WAS a prison for me, it was THERE that God began to SET ME FREE...
...Hold on!! I feel a POEM coming on, Lol!!
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