Glory Days

In high school, Mike O'Donnell was the star on his high school basketball court with a bright future ahead. But instead of moving forward, he decides to throw it all away to share his life with his girlfriend Scarlett, and the baby he just learned they are expecting. Almost twenty years later, Mike's glory days are left behind him. His marriage to Scarlett has fallen apart, he has been passed over for a promotion at work, and his teenage kids think he is a loser. But Mike is given another chance when he is somehow magically transformed back to the age of seventeen. So when he decides to relive his glory days, he enrolls in the same high school as his children just to be close to them... and all hell breaks lose!
 
I just saw "17 Again," and yes, I thought the same thing - A rip-off of Tom Hanks' "Big," Walt Disney's "Freaky Friday," Drew Barrymore's "Never Been Kissed," and probably a bunch of other films that I can't think of right now.
 
For some people, high school was their glory days, and for some, it was just another chapter in their life that they would probably rather have closed than to rekindle the memories. Don't you love it when all of the popular kids from high school are doing absolutely nothing with their life, and certainly don't look the same as they once did during their "Prom King/ Queen," "Football Star," or "Queen Bee" phase. And then there's the ones who weren't quite nerds, yet weren't popular either, who are doing just fine now. And of course, the geeks are all kicking some ass!

For me in high school, I would have to say I was the coolest of the nerds. I minded my own business, I didn't care about being popular or being friends with the in crowd. I had my own group of friends, and we did just fine. I was actually also pretty quiet, and would never dare to raise my hand or speak up in class. I never belonged to any clubs, sports teams, or any sort of extra curricular activity. And forget about talking to boys. Let's just say I was a late bloomer and rather retarded when it came to the opposite sex. And look at me now, I'm awesome! I know exactly what I want to do with my life. And I have a kick ass job. Well... past tense. But I will again soon!
 
So, to all of those popular kids who ever poked fun of me, bullied me in high school, or called me ugly - and to all of the teachers who didn't think I would amount to anything, well... you all can go suck it!

And if for some unknown reason I was somehow magically transformed into being seventeen and doing it all over again, surely I would have done things differently. I would have started Proactiv long, long ago. I would have invested in a hair straightening iron. Maybe I shouldn't have cut class so much to go and see the Backstreet Boys at TRL. And then, maybe I would have done better in school so that I could have gotten into an awesome college far, far away from home.

But see the thing is, you can't change your past. You are not going to wake up one magical morning, look in the mirror and realize that you are a teenager again. So when I look back, if I would have changed even a single thing, then I wouldn't be the person that I am today. Yes, it's corny and cliché, but it's the truth. Everything in my life has somehow brought me to where I am right now. Because if I didn't cut class to go to MTV to see TRL then I wouldn't have realized that I wanted to work in television. And if I didn't go to Hofstra, I wouldn't have gotten my job at the TV show I used to work at (since they helped me get it). And every messed up event that has ever happened to me, every asshole that I've dated or have been friends with, and every family catastrophe has made me realize that everything really does happen for a reason.

So in conclusion, don't sit and wonder "What if?" Because if not now, then someday you will realize why everything happened the way that it did. For me, I'm a writer. So I'm assuming my mission in life is to write about it. And I'm glad that everything happened the way that it did. I couldn't have written it any better myself.
 
What would YOU do if you got a second chance at high school? What would YOU change?