Before becoming a longtime math teacher here at Menlo-Atherton High School, Jennifer Carson ’87 was a highly involved and active student navigating a busy high school life. Carson, who taught math at M-A for 30 years and now works on special assignment, supporting students outside the classroom, grew up locally in Walnut Creek.
Carson grew up right around the Bay Area in Walnut Creek and attended Las Lomas High School. Coincidentally, Las Lomas shared similarities with M-A. The school colors were maroon and gold just like M-A. “Las Lomas is slightly smaller than M-A but also pretty interesting and diverse,” Carson said. She attended Las Lomas with current M-A AP Computer Science teacher Ms. Donaldson.
Carson described herself as extremely active during her high school years. “I was very much a go-getter. I did everything all the time,” she said. “I was in leadership, I was in sports. I was also in cheer.”
Her involvement on campus went beyond extracurriculars. “I represented my school on the school board, so I’ve been doing meetings since I was a teenager.” She also played a role in school accreditation. “I was even the WASC [Western Association of Schools and Colleges] lead for students when in high school.”
Given her high level of community involvement, Carson’s schedule reflected her packed and busy lifestyle. Still, Carson valued having a wide range of friends and found time to balance her social and academic lives. “I feel like even back then, I had friends from different social groups. So you don’t have to have one path through high school. There’s lots of different ways to get through,” she said.
Athletics played a major role in Carson’s life as well, though opportunities for girls were limited at the time. “I was an athlete, although, even back then, they didn’t have all of the girls sports that they have now,” she said. Carson played soccer through a club team since Las Lomas didn’t have a girls’ soccer program. Without a girls’ water polo team at Las Lomas, Casron pivoted to swim team in the spring and participated in cheer during the fall.
Carson took pride in her ability to move freely between social groups and cliques. “I wanted the groups to cross over,” Carson said. “I want people to be able to do both things. I felt proud to be like a cheerleader and also be a swimmer and a soccer player,” she said. “It was great to be able to be in leadership and also AP Calculus like that. You didn’t have to fit in one little box.”
Her favorite memory came from swimming in the East Bay. “Everybody does swimming in the East Bay and all the local neighborhoods have swim teams,” Carson said. “So you grew up being rivals against other kids (in the neighborhood) because you would swim against them in your age group from the time you were like five.” That rivalry shifted in high school. “Then you get to high school, and you all went to the same school, so these rivals became your teammates. And that was very powerful.” The cycle continued year after year. “Then in the summer, we would all go back and be rivals again, and also coaches,” Carson said.
Carson also reflected on how her challenges in high school shape the person she would later become. “Ms. Donaldson and I have been friends since elementary school, and we really had terrible math teachers. We used to actually have to kind of teach the class because the teacher was so bad, and it turns out both she and I end became math teachers in high school,” Carson said.
Despite many positive memories, Carson also acknowledged the challenges of high school. “There’s always some heartbreak in high school, and the feeling of being left out right still sits with you no matter what,” Carson said. “We did not have social media to know everywhere everyone was. So there would be times where we would just be driving around looking for where the kids were, because you didn’t know, and hopefully you found them. And if not, then you know, it would feel lonely.”
Carson believes her high school experience is still deeply relatable for students today. “So much about being a teenager and being a high schooler has not changed,” she said.
Despite the changes in the generations, Carson believes one thing stays consistent. “Being a teenager is still an emotional roller coaster and a lot of the solutions are still in the same things,” she said. “Find a core group, whether it’s a team or a group of friends, that can get you through. And if none of that is you’re not finding it on campus, then maybe get a job and you’ll find your group there.
In hindsight, Carson expressed gratitude for her high school experiences. “I’m gonna give it a nine [out of ten],” Carson said. “I felt very lucky to go to a school that even [though] the things that weren’t great, like having terrible math teachers, ended up being a blessing, because I became a math teacher, right?”
Looking back, Carson offered advice she would give her younger self. “Don’t get a perm when you’re on the swim team,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of rest. “I was a highly motivated student and highly motivated in all the things. And maybe the best thing my parents did for me is make me go to bed. To this day, that’s one of the things I feel grateful for,” Carson said.
