Hillary Pens High School Reminiscence For 'Chicago Sun-Times'

By: Mark Fitzgerald In a break from campaign politics, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton reminisced about her days as a suburban Chicago high school student in a piece published in Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times.

The article, headlined "What Maine South Means To Me," is the latest in a weekly series in which the paper asks a famous alumnus to recall their time at an area high school.

Clinton was a member of the class of 1965, the first to graduate from Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill.

"High school was an eye-opening time for me," Clinton wrote. "This was the late '60s, and the country was changing. I was hungry to learn more about the world and to figure out my place in it. And in high school, that's not easy for any teenager: trying to discover who you are while struggling to fit in at the same time."

She recalled a mock presidential election debate when she was a senior in the fall of 1964.

"At the time, believe it or not, I was a Republican, like my father," Clinton wrote. "I was a Goldwater girl through and through. That's why I protested when a young government teacher, Jerry Baker, assigned me to play President Johnson in the debate. Mr. Baker said he wanted us to explore another perspective. He wouldn't back down."

Studying Johnson's positions, she was gradually enticed into the Democratic party, she said:

"I found myself advocating for President Johnson with more than just dramatic fervor. My days as a Republican were numbered!"

When she was first lady of Arkansas, working to improve the state's public schools, she "realized how fortunate I had been to attend fully equipped schools with highly trained teachers and a full range of academic and extracurricular activities."

"If you want to know what Maine South means to me, that's it: Every single child deserves the chance to achieve his or her potential," Clinton said.

Clinton is by far the most famous graduate of the school, whose alumni include 1988 Olympics speedskater Mark Greenwald and screenwriter Greg ("Meet The Fockers") Glienna.