What Class in High School Has Been Most Useful?

 

While browsing on Facebook the other day, there was a question posed, “What class in high school has been most useful?”  It may have been worded a little differently, but you get the idea. I thought about it for a bit, considering the basics, English, Algebra, History, Civics and even Anatomy and Physiology; but even the English classes I took left a sour taste.  I think that had to do with my not getting along with the teacher.

Mrs. Spain wanted us to write a descriptive paragraph about a record she had playing on her phonograph.  As I recall, it was a recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2; but that’s not what I wrote about.  Instead, I went into great detail about how sunlight reflected off the tiny grooves as the 33rpm disc swirled around a chrome spindle, the magical way a small needle rested in those grooves producing music for everyone to enjoy.  Mrs. Spain wasn’t impressed, not at all as she marked my paper with a large Red F.  She went on to tell me I would never amount to much, certainly a waste of her time.

Admittedly, I wasn’t a good student during high school.  I wanted to be done with it and move on with life, not sure of what, but there had to be something better than going to school.  While remembering how much I really didn’t appreciate opportunities offered, one class I’d taken in Junior High rose to the surface, Typing Class. 

(Image of typewriter courtesy of pngtree dot com)

In the Eight Grade, I took a basic Typing Class.  Hand positioning over the keys was important along with learning how to feed paper with carbon so you’d have a copy, things like that.  But, over the years I’ve almost taken it for granted that I could type without looking down at the keys.

In our day and age, with so much of our time spent on computers or similar devices, that Typing Class has turned out to be the one that’s served me the best. I know, lots of folks prefer using a cellphone to text instead of using a laptop or regular computer with a keyboard; but my fingers can’t seem to feel comfortable over those tiny spots on the face of the phone.  I constantly hit the Period key while intending to hit the letter M, then I have to hit the erase key several times to correct the issue, find the letter M key, and then breathe out to get rid of frustration until I find the thought originally intended to be texted.

No thanks, I still prefer an old-fashioned keyboard, even if it’s attached to a fancy electronic device that’s no longer called a typewriter.  I wonder what ever happened to the typewriter I had while attending Sam Houston State, a light blue portable, can’t remember which company manufactured that trusty little machine.  Oh, well…