It may appear that the young man in the picture above is almost…ready…to…doze…off. I will admit that discussions about font style and paper texture did could get a little tedious.

The lessons learned in Mr. Cannalis’ classroom though were much more useful than I realized. I learned the value of setting and meeting deadlines. I learned sales techniques in order to fund our yearbooks. I also learned what it feels like to be rejected midway through a sales pitch only to have to shake it off and go to the next prospect.

I learned the rush that cracking open a brand new yearbook could bring. I can still tell you what font, photo technique and layout decisions were mine.

In the end, we published a pretty darn good book. And I learned valuable life lessons even though, as a teen, you’d never get me to admit it.

One thing I will admit. I miss my hair.…