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Joy

Jimmy Fallon asked his viewers why their high school was 'weird' and the responses were great

Here are 19 of our favorite responses.

via The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show.

High schools are a perfect breeding ground for weirdness. First of all, you have a bunch of teenagers who are starting to deal with adult problems but they don’t have the experience or the brain development to figure out how to navigate complex feelings and relationships.

Then you add sex, drugs, learner’s permits, the stress of trying to get into college and really bad facial hair to the situation and you have all the ingredients for people and situations to go completely sideways.

Then there are the teachers. High school teachers tend to be a bit more eccentric than those in the younger grades because they are hired as specialists in a given field, such as history, math or science. Whereas teachers in younger grades have to be nurturing and have a more holistic approach to child development.

Also, hindsight makes a lot of things that seemed normal at the time begin to seem a bit strange. As we get older and have a firm grasp on the realities of being an adult, there are some things that we can’t believe we lived through as teenagers in high school.

When I was in high school we had a drama teacher that sat in the gym and chain-smoked while we rehearsed the play and we didn’t think anything of it. I’m pretty sure my home economics teacher hit the cooking sherry during lunchtime, and we got a day off from school due to the L.A. riots in 1992.

Everyone dealt with some amount of weirdness while they were in high school, so Jimmy Fallon asked his “Tonight Show” audience to share their stories with #MyHighSchoolWasWeird and he read some of his favorites on his show.

We took a look at the hashtag and picked some of the responses we liked the most. Here are 19 of them. Why was your high school weird? Tell us in the comments on Facebook.

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If you look back at how you acted, dressed and behaved in high school and have a little bit of shame, that’s probably a good thing. If you cringe a little when you think about your former self, that shows that you’ve grown as a person.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could go back to high school knowing what you know now? How much easier would it be to approach that special person you wanted to ask to the dance but couldn’t muster up the courage? How much more would you appreciate those carefree days when all you had to worry about was a bio test or who had a crush on whom in homeroom?

Personally, if I went back to high school I’d have a lot more appreciation for my teachers knowing just how hard of a job they have. Now that I’m an adult I have a lot more sympathy for what we put them through and I can totally understand why teaching at a high school can turn someone a little weird.

Here's Jimmy Fallon reading off some of his responses to #MyHighSchoolWasWeird.


This article originally appeared on 02.09.22

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Joy

A 9-yr-old cheerleader’s veteran dad couldn't help with her routine, so a high schooler ran to her side

Sensing something was wrong, he sprang to action with many witnessing his kind act.

Images from YouTube video.

Addie Rodriguez does her cheer.

Addie Rodriguez was supposed to take the field with her dad during a high school football game, where he, along with other dads, would lift her onto his shoulders for a routine. But Addie's dad was halfway across the country, unable to make the event.

Her father is Abel Rodriguez, a veteran airman who, after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was training at Travis Air Force Base in California, 1,700 miles from his family in San Antonio at the time.

"Mom missed the memo it was parent day, and the reason her mom missed the memo was her dad left Wednesday," said Alexis Perry-Rodriguez, Addie's mom. She continued, "It was really heartbreaking to see your daughter standing out there being the only one without their father, knowing why he's away. It's not just an absentee parent. He's serving our country."


But as Addie sat there in front of the game's crowd, with no one to join her on the field, someone ran toward her. That person was Central Catholic High School senior Matthew Garcia, who went to her after realizing she was the only cheerleader without a partner.


Garcia told local news station FOX 29, "I ran down from the bleachers right here, and I just hopped the fence, and I went over, and I kneeled down, I talked to her and I said, 'Are you OK?'"

He then lifted Addie onto his shoulders just like the dads did with their daughters so she could participate in the routine. Many onlookers quickly realized they were witnessing an extraordinary act of kindness, and social media was abuzz:

It may have been a small gesture for Garcia, but as Addie tells it, that little bit of assistance meant the world to her. They posed for a picture after the routine was done, and it's clear this will be one encounter she won't soon forget.

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Addie Rodriguez and Mathew Garcia.

Images from YouTube video.

"I just felt like somebody saved my life," Addie said, adding, "I thought that's so nice, especially since my dad's serving for us.”

Watch the YouTube video below:

This article originally appeared on 08.21.18

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Education

Students think they're about to 'get in trouble.' But their teachers have a different plan.

It always feels good when someone's in your corner.

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Teachers earn their own A's through this act of encouragement.

Thinking back, I'm sure we can all recall having a tough day at school.

Maybe you got a bad grade on a test or weren't picked for a team you desperately wanted to be on. Or maybe there was a day (or days) where you just didn't feel like your presence at school mattered.

While you may no longer be in school, feeling unimportant can absolutely trickle back from time to time. I happened to be experiencing some of those feelings myself when I stumbled upon an amazing video by Jamie McSparin, a teacher at Oak Park High School in Kansas City, Missouri.

McSparin recognized the students at her school go through tough times on occasion, and she wanted to do something to show them how important they are to their teachers.

So she gathered several other teachers at Oak Park together and asked them to pick one student and share why that student inspires them to come to work every day. On camera.

The teachers were a little apprehensive about doing it at first, but that was before they got these incredible reactions:

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A bright smile cultivated through a teacher's motivation.

Photo via Tyler McSparin/YouTube.

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Big smiles found when getting some good news from the teacher.

Photo via Tyler McSparin/YouTube.

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Some times it's surprising how much a little positive reinforcement takes someone.

Photo via Tyler McSparin/YouTube.

McSparin asked each teacher to record the experience. In order to catch the students off guard, the teachers looked up their schedules and momentarily pulled each student out of class.

"EVERY student we pulled from class thought they were in trouble," wrote McSparin in an email. Of course that's the natural reaction when a teacher takes you out of class, but once they realized what was going on, they were overcome with gratitude.

And the teachers didn't just choose overachievers. The students picked fell on a wide academic spectrum to show their abilities don't dictate their significance.

The initial goal of the "Oak Park Positivity Project" was to remind the teachers how much of an impact they have on their students, but it's obviously worked to bolster students' confidence as well.

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It's not rocket science that encouraging the future has value.

Photo via Tyler McSparin/YouTube.

Since the video launched, McSparin has received inspiring messages from educators across the country who are eager to bring the project into their schools.

And McSparin plans to keep the positivity going all year long. "Several students have approached me about things THEY want to do to keep it going," she said.

Everyone can have a tough day now and again, but movements like this prove there's always someone in your corner to gladly remind you how much you matter.

Check out the video project here:

This article originally appeared on 10.06.16


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Joy

Perfectly delivered Monty Python-themed prom proposal might just top them all

It even earned several chuckles of approval from the girl's dad.

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash

Monty Python is beloved by generations.

As someone who firmly believes that getting a prom date shouldn't be anywhere near as exciting ask asking someone for their hand in marriage, I'm generally loath to share "promposal" videos. Not to be too bah humbug about it, but the elaborate asks have gotten out of hand, and creating a memorable prom proposal feels like a lot to put on already-pressured teens.

That being said, one "promposal" video making the rounds on Reddit and other social media sites is worth watching. Not only does it shine with its clever concept, deft delivery and wholesome hilarity, but the simple joy it evokes crosses generations.

Monty Python has had a rather miraculous hold on several generations and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" in particular has been a cult classic for nearly 50 years. So seeing a group of high schoolers use it as inspiration for a prom proposal has people of all ages giggling with delight.

The video begins with a girl standing in her doorway watching someone perform a trumpet blast in her yard. Then we hear the clippity-clop of fake horse hooves just before a small group of guys come "galloping" into view on hobby horses.

A wigged scribe "dismounts" and unrolls a scroll before declaring, "Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!" and making the announcement.

I won't spoil it. Just watch:

The beauty of this promposal is that it succeeded in being over-the-top silly without actually being over-the-top. The paper crowns, the fact that they're in normal clothes except for the red robe and goofy wig, the little detail of the kid being lifted off the horse, the scroll simply reading "Prom?"—it all harkens back to a simpler time before viral when kids would do stuff like this just for the fun of it.

Even the man in the background, presumably the girl's dad, chuckles with approval throughout.

It's not easy to hit the mark across generations, but they nailed it. Way to go, guys.

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