Frank Thomas (Thomas Rechichi)

I never went to Burger King during lunch; never smoked a cigarette out by the field house; never lied my way past Mr Sharpe; never raised hell; never stayed out late; never went parking up on the mountain; never wore cool clothes; never did anything athletic; never dated; never skipped school; never climbed out Mrs Jones' window; never went to a fifth quarter Jam; never joined the wrestling or soccer teams; never went to any parties; never got high; never hung out at the Krystal; never drove to school on my own; never got drunk; never created chemical mayhem in the lab; never forked or TPd someone's yard; never fell in love; never broke into the school at night; never went up to the senior wall.

I guess I never knew what I was missing.

One of my few favorite stories from high school came in Health class. Kelly Nulter had renamed her CPR mannequin after Pierce Brosnan. Right before she would lean in to give it the breath of life, she would call out, "Pierce, Pierce, are you okay??"

Let's see, what else?

* Jim Bilbro painting a peace symbol on the Center Court panther, and being caught by Nora Stephens.
* Having to carry a "green card" (really a movie pass) during freshman year in band because Tommy Harmon thought I was so tan that I had to be foreign - "like, from Puerto Rico," he said.
* Mrs Gonzales' blue wrist from writing on her overhead projector.
* The friendships I had for four years.
* Mr Swanson's black plastic-covered classroom windows and interesting lessons.
* That the boys' bathroom near the cafeteria had pink tiles, and the girls' bathroom had blue tiles.
* Taking a trip to Austria and Germany with the band - still my only trip off this continent.
* Being in the company of smart, beautiful women all the time - but sadly not realizing it.
* The way that Mrs. Guerin always smelled like roses.
* The friendship and mentoring of Dr. vT, Mrs. Butler, and Mrs. Murphy.

I was graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in political science in 1993. I thought I wanted to teach, or to be a lawyer, or to enter politics. But I was always in such a hurry. In 1994, I moved to College Station, Texas to work on my PhD in political science at Texas A&M. But, fearing how old I was going to be when I finally finished college - 25 - I quit, moved to Austin, and became a high school teacher.

I taught economics and geography at a few schools for about five years. When an opportunity came along to work with a team creating new textbooks, I jumped at it; I thought it would be a way to reach even more students. However, after September 11, 2001, my small publishing company had financial troubles and pulled the plug on our project, leaving me without a job.

At about the same time, in the fall of 2001, I had just begun working as an umpire on professional tennis matches. I started working as a line umpire at smaller, minor league events. As my experience and confidence grew, I began working more and bigger events, and when I was not on the road I would substitute teach or do other irregular work.

In 2005 I was promoted to chair umpire by the International Tennis Federation, and in 2009 I was promoted again. Since then, I have worked at ATP and WTA Tour events. The highlights of my career all came late in 2009. I officiated a charity tennis match that included Billie Jean King and Sir Elton John. I was the chair umpire for the men's wheelchair final at the US Open. And I was on the line umpire crew when Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer in the US Open final in 2009.

It is not really a career that any kid grows up aspiring to enter. It is something that finds you. Anyway, you know what they say - "Those who can, play sports. Those who can't, officiate."

In 2011, I met my husband, retired from full-time sports officiating, and moved to Rochester, New York, where I work in admissions at RIT.

I am not sure. High school was rarely a happy time for me, mainly because teenagers can be cruel. I did not keep in touch with anyone after I went off to college. And it was only by random chance that David Baird and Jenny Russell came back into my life in North Carolina. I guess it depends on whether 20 years is long enough for people to change.