“Ladies and Gentlemen, teachers and fellow graduates of the year 2000″

With these wonderful words David Gibson, our Valedictorian, began his infamous graduation speech….a speech that made us laugh, made us proud, and helped us put our High School experience and “the rest of our lives” into perspective.

I’m pleased to inform you that David Gibson, MBSS’s orator extraordinaire, is the subject of this interview!

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If there are any of you still undecided if you’ll come, or if you’re still thinking about skipping that shift or work day to come to the reunion, just do it!

Look forward to seeing a bunch of you all on Friday and Saturday THIS week!

Cheers,

Paxton & The Organizing Committee

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INTERVIEW WITH DAVID GIBSON:

WILL YOU BE ATTENDING THE REUNION? IF NOT, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?
Yeah Megan Simon and Tyler Twerdun said they’d disown me if I don’t show, plus now that I know Mitch won’t be there and Dave Cunning will, added bonus ☺

WHERE ARE YOU LIVING AND WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THESE DAYS?
Freezing in Calgary, just killing time working for a bit until I move to San Diego. I did 4 years of college and 4 years of grad school, got a masters degree and found out I hated astrophysics so I quit my Phd in my 3rd year. So now I spend most of my time hanging out with my girlfriend and going on trips where I seem to get volunteered to do the bloody activities at the resort quite often. I’m the current champion of the “spin around a bat 10 times, drink 3 beers, swim across the pool, do 10 push ups and slam 2 more beers” game in Jamaica. Accepting all challengers haha.

MARRIED? KIDS?
Hahahahaha….hahaha….ha….no and hell no.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU READ OVER YOUR VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH? PROBABLY BEEN AWHILE, RIGHT? IF YOU DON’T MIND, COULD YOU FIND IT AND GIVE US ONE QUOTE YOU STILL AGREE WITH AND ONE THAT YOU DON’T.
See here’s the kicker, I had brain surgery right after high school, so I legitimately remember next to nothing about the events of high school, including giving this speech. I CAN answer according to what people told me about it after the fact though.

AGREE WITH: We need to make a positive contribution to society.

DISAGREE WITH: Treadgold’s lectures took forever, I’ve seen much worse in grad school.

HAVE YOU CHANGED MUCH SINCE HIGH SCHOOL?
Well, besides the receding hairline and ever-inflating waistline, I’m a little less outspoken and a little less high strung than I used to be. I had a pretty nasty temper back in the day but I’ve cooled off a bit over the years….but just a bit haha

ARE YOU STILL TOUCH WITH ANYONE FROM HIGH SCHOOL?
I really do have some of the best friends from high school so it made sense to keep in touch with them. I’ve known Tyler Twerdun, Jon Rowe and Dan Pinese since kindergarten. We continue to be close friends despite folks moving to various locations around the world. Greg Mackintosh was a close friend in high school but we became much closer after the fact. Megan Simon just wouldn’t leave me alone so yeah I’ve seen her lots too haha. Can never forget Dave Cunning either, he was always game to chase drunken me around Kelowna during my various vacations…..good times man haha. There’s been plenty of other folks I’ve spent time with here and there, they know who they are, but these guys have been around the most by far.

WHAT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU MISS ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
Simplicity of life. I found it much more enjoyable to think about the future and enjoy the various activities of my teen years than going through the various trials and tribulations of aging. I miss when the dream of being “a knight in shining armor” was still tangible.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY IN HIGH SCHOOL IF YOU COULD DO IT AGAIN?
I should have joined drama and choir when I had the chance. It was the only time in my life it was actually available to try and I fear I may have missed that boat. Oh, and cooking, cause I’ve had to live most of my 20s being able to only cook mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. I may be absent from our 25 year reunion if I can’t change that hahaha.

IN HIGH SCHOOL, COULD YOU HAVE IMAGINED YOURSELF WHERE YOU ARE NOW?
A lot of things worked out exactly as planned coming out of high school, but there were a lot of ideas I had about my future that never transpired. Obviously, not a professional baseball player haha but more than that, not married, no kids, not in the city I thought I’d be in. But hey, that’s what our 30s are for right ☺

WHAT’S A SIGNIFICANT LIFE LESSON THAT YOU’VE LEARNED IN THE PAST 10 YEARS SINCE HIGH SCHOOL?
Don’t try and force something on yourself. I found out that what I was studying in school didn’t give me any satisfaction and should have switched to something else much sooner than I did. After I quit my PhD (oh yeah, btw I went for a PhD and quit haha), I discovered there were a lot of things I was trying to force myself into, instead of accepting the fact that certain things weren’t going to work for me.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING AND/OR WATCHING LATELY?
School killed recreational reading for me, so outside of quick glances at newspapers and various news websites, I stay out of reading. I’m a pretty hardcore tv/movie junkie, I watch a plethora of shows and enjoy watching a lot of movies. Lost (weak ending btw), CSI, Law and Order, Survivor, etc etc etc…it’s a pretty long list. Just recently saw Toy Story 3 as well, it was bloody awesome, definitely go see that ☺

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO ACCOMPLISHING IN THE FUTURE?
Living up to my own expectations. Out of high school I thought I knew what I wanted, but I found out later on in life I wanted something different, now I get to go get it ☺

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY / SHARE?
I just want to thank all those ex classmates that I’ve ran into over the last 10 years. It was always educational and sometimes destructive (like the fact that I’ve run into Paul Atkin about 100 times since high school and I still have a hard time remembering what it is we did during those times….thanks for the drinks man lol).