Darren's Schooling

Way back in 1989, when I was 18, leaving Hellesdon High School (Norwich,UK) all I could think about was starting my new business. By the time I was 19 I was going to be a millionaire, or at least well on the way. (Actually what happened was I did not manage to sell a single thing until month 13 of my first year, which people might call good character-building stuff, and an invaluable opportunity to learn from mistakes, but was very depressing at the time. But this page is not about how to fail a business.)

I quickly lost touch with everyone I went to school with. It wasn't until a few years later that I even started to regret this. At that point I was living the other side of the world (Tokyo, Japan) and doing something about it was all but impossible.

If you do remember me please do get in touch. I would love to hear what you have been doing. The best way is by email to darren@dcook.org. Put "Hellesdon" in the subject line to help get past my (sometimes over-zealous) spam filters.

Here is a then and now photo: (Okay, the "then" photos are really 10 years before the "then" of leaving school, but it is the closest I have to hand; I am hoping to be able to scan some better photos soon. The "now" photo is Christmas 2006, carving the turkey and not posing for the camera, oh no, not in the slightest.)

Here are just a few of the people I remember and would really love to hear from (sorry if I got your name wrong, or missed you - memory gets surprisingly fuzzy). If you know anyone on this list please let me know (or tell them about this page).
(*) means someone I am in contact with, directly or indirectly. So if you have been trying to get in touch with them then let me know!

(Yes, I am on the friendsreunited.co.uk site.)