I ain't no valedictorian. I'll give you that. But I'm certainly not the loser my step-father Johnnie likes to think I am, either
. Mr oh-so-famous local Johnnie Pipehead of "Johnnie on the Spot Plumbing." (Real clever name, huh?) Just because he only took the
requisite twelve years to make it through school and graduate from his alma mater, and I took slightly longer, that doesn't make
me a loser. So what if I took 'the road less traveled by' and added a one-year, scenic detour to my journey--thanks to Algebra,
Physical Science, and well Latin. Did I mention Chemistry? Let's just say I liked Latin but Latin didn't much care for me. Just
because I took thirteen years in all to get out of Melancholy High with a diploma doesn't make me some loser. Being nothing at
all, now THAT would make me a loser
2 I am something But what I am, and what I'll be, are two countries at war at present. Battles, I've had them. Many battles.
Literal ones..figurative ones too many, Figurative language. see there? At least I did learn a few somethings in Mr. J's English
class
3 I could've been the valedictorian. Of somewhere. Of some school that had a bunch of unmotivated kids like me. Then, maybe
would have gone to those Physical Science study halls. Maybe I would have actually done my homework in Mr. Pugnacious' class
Real name, Pugliese. Wrestling coach. Don't you just love that moniker? For a wrestling coach Pugnacious. Funny stuff, huh?
Made that up. It stuck. Guy's got a bulldog face but a little tail wagging personality. Had everything but the panting. And the
drool Too much caffeine I suppose. Too happy. Loved his math, that Pugnacious.
6 I was the valedictorian tonight. I do know what I'm going to be. I have graduated from Meloncamp High School about 115th
out of class of 126. Thing is, I've seen the fear in the eyes of four score and seven more of those classmates of mine that don't
have a rat's chance of knowing what they are going to be. I do. I'm going to be a writer. Mr. J taught me more than English. He
taught me what Pops taught me before his passing...love.
Based on the passage, what can you infer was the speaker's best subject in school?
A)Algebra
B)English
C)Chemistry
D)Physical Science
