Cerne and the Corsica

When I first started teaching in NH back in the mid-1990s, I barely made enough money to rent an apartment with a roommate.  I was also in over my head with college loans.  In addition to having a full-time teaching career, I had a part-time job at TJ Maxx,  a summer job as a camp counselor, and an adjunct faculty position at a nearby college.  I worked all of these jobs just to break even with my basic bills.  So is the financial life of a teacher.  I know, I know: I chose my profession based on my passion, not for a financial windfall.  And I do not regret that decision.  But to continue to give you an idea of where I was financially...

It was my third year teaching, and on one particular day I was fulfilling my teacher duty in the cafeteria when a bunch of my junior boys approached me with big grins on their faces.  They had noticed that I owned the same car--including make, model, year, and color--as one of their friends who had just bought his first car.

His name was Matt Cerne. I didn't have him in class, but I had all of his friends as my students.  His friends called him by his last name--Cerne.  He was a good kid:  smart, respectful, and fun.  He was one of the stars of the football team.  He was considered "gorgeous" by the freshmen and sophomore girls, and the boys thought he was "cool."  And he and I owned the same type of car.

So Cerne and his friends were beyond excited--how awesome was it that we had the same car--a 1986 light blue Chevy Corsica. I remember thinking, this is soooo not cool!  Not wanting to burst their bubble, but at the same time needing to give them a reality check, I calmly remarked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  This may be awesome for you, but let's think about this.  What does this say about the income of a teacher?  You haven't even earned a high school diploma, Cerne.  I have already earned my high school diploma, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, and master's degree...AND WE ARE DRIVING THE SAME CAR that is over ten years old!"  And just hearing my own voice share the craziness of that statement made me burst out laughing with all of them.

For the next year I had to make sure I was going to the right car--my car--when we were leaving school events.  Underclassmen would come up to me and say, "Don't you think it's so great that you own the same type of car as Matt Cerne?" And I would smile and say, oh yes, when I really was thinking, This is pathetic! 

And let's face it, owning a car when we are in high school is an amazing coming of age experience.  My first car was a 1978 maroon Ford Fairmont.  It had been my grandmother's and when she passed away during my junior year of high school in 1990, I inherited the Fairmont.  Although it was 12 years old, it only had 12,000 miles on it because my grandmother would only drive it to bingo games. Because it hadn't been used much, it wasn't in great shape.  I remember my friends and I wouldn't use my car at night for when I turned on the headlights, the radio shut off.  And who wants to cruise around town with no radio?

So I understood why the students thought the fact that Cerne and I had matching Corsicas was cool.  And Cerne's friends had cars that they loved.  Cerne's friend Shane had a mustang that they even named.  Cars are a rite of passage, but what happens when you've traveled through the passage of high school, college, graduate school and still own a high school rite of passage car?  I'm laughing thinking about it.

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, the Corsica became another way to connect with my students.  And I somehow acquired "cool teacher" points from my underclassmen because I owned the same type of car as the popular Matt Cerne. Go figure.  As a rookie teacher trying to prove myself as a credible, competent, compassionate educator, I took what I could get in motivating my students to learn.

Here is an image that I found on the internet of what the car looked like.

Please feel free to share your high school car stories!  And Shane and friends, what was the name of your car?