Looking for Alaska at My High School

[HCruse]

A most enjoyable tour of our old stomping grounds, John. (From a fellow Indian Springs grad)

[KylieLautner]

I live in Alabama, and I plan on visiting here this summer! Looking for Alaska is one of my favorite books and my best friends favorite book as well. Thank you for being an awesome writer and introducing us to Alaska Young. :)

[Catniops]

u used to smoke?

[dftbawolf]

i bet he wishes he was a honey badger! dhun dhun dhun honey badger

[rya41209]

This is exactly how I pictured the school while reading the book! O:

[abipk]

i enjoy that he tells us what looking for alaska is about

oh, john. we know all too well.

[madmanJSK]

0:54 - Catered to your spiritual needs..... xD win

[gimkilo57]

I'm reading looking for alaska :) They finally got it at the library :D

[carrie10188]

This makes me want to go their

[rummy522]

Your voice near the end of this video reminded me so much of the narrator from "The Wonder Years"

[TheSilverMoon5]

ur such a writer

[lightningcow10]

Finished looking for Alaska yesterday. Brilliance printed on paper matter I swear to god.

[NinaMarieLego]

Looking for Alaska is one of the best books I've ever read and I always wondered what happened to pudge. now I know that pudge is John and well, that's just awesome.

[ilovejustinvernon]

Okay this is one of the best things I've ever heard, the quote by John at the end...I want to be a writer and was never able to describe why I was so drawn to it but it's like, it's like he said everything that I ever wanted to say there.

Btw go dickinson!

[zombiecamelzzz]

i read the book and loved it and for that 3:41 seconds i felt the book came alive, Thanks John

[itsonlymecollette]

Hello John, I've just finished 'Looking for Alaska' (it was beautiful by the way) and I was thinking, do you mind that the Culver Creek in my mind is different to the one you intended it to be? Your version is wonderful but the place it played out in my head is completely different, what is your opinion on this? Thanks x Collette

[ktipton4life]

i stayed up reading it all night last night... 1st period study hall watching this... WIN!

[TinyTeaza2k7]

I want to go to this school.

[TheNaebyrd]

Okay at 1:28 ... That is EXACTYLY how i pictured the dorm rooms... O.O awesome.

[JustAle19]

I absolutely love Looking for Alaska, beeing venezuelan and having to practically memorized everything about Simón Bolívar it just makes me a little happy when people outside Latin America talk about him, Also, so funny how you pronounced it.

[ivyarrow]

This video makes me cry. In a truly non sarcastic way, thank you.

DFTBA

[Sammiee8489]

This video literally and I never misuse that word, changed my life and the way I perceive my "memories". Some are so permanent that you know every detail and that those details are true, and some you lie to yourself, not because you mean to, but because you want to change the way things were. It's kinda how I felt after I finished An Abundance of Katharine's, which is my favourite of all your books.

[brantwig]

Anyone reminded of a Separate Peace because of the video? No? Former student now an adult visiting his old boarding school? Thinking of old memories by visiting old landmarks from his past? Just me? Ok.

[Sammiee8489]

@brantwig Nah, I got it. Even though it's been like four years since I read that book. I read it in AP English Literature in eleventh grade.

[joebowilso]

"these trampolines are just close enough to each other to invite poor decisions and just far enough apart to punish those poor decisions" I wish I noticed things like that when walking around!

[imtheiconoclast]

What a beautiful video.

[larllarfleton]

wow, your a poet john. i plan on reading ALL your books. i am an aspiring filmmaker, as well as a history and science buff. i do some of my own writing as well. gotta say, your an inspiration. :)

[peonyatbirth]

omg... it's just like i pictured it when i was reading the book... ;-;

[mimimeila]

I wonder if any Nerdfighters go to/ have gone to that school. I wish I could have...

[APrymez]

This place is beautiful.

[rnj117]

the "BAM , stung by a bee" made me think of phoebe on friends "BAM , hit by a bus" ... no ? just me then ? Fine !!!

[zombiejock]

i think this is my favorite vlogbrothers video/

[blackzabbathfan]

i had a dream my whole class went to culver creek

[weedfreehippie]

I wish people graffittied Emily Dickinson quotes instead of gang signs at my school.

[MaceyDoesThings]

I like you guys a lot. But sometimes you make me cry a little.

[dededede800]

YOU WENT TO INDIAN SPRINGS?!?!?!?

[Nikkitta007]

These are my favorite vlog brother's videos. :) 

[pheonixsong97]

@bluescidoo

Don't apologize. I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally find your ramblings quite amusing( and not in a mean way,) :)

[pheonixsong97]

French the llama.

That's exactly how I pictured the school. It's kinda creepy.

[bluescidoo]

HOLY MOTHER OF FU-

sorry it's just that school looks exactly like how i pictured it in my mind and it was scary forcond there.. damn you're a good writer...

(also when i typed looks exactlly i had a special moment and wrote look sexactly im sorry im rambling...)

[POPclogger216]

Somewhat spoiler!

What he said at 2:59 - 3:05 reminds me of what Augustus said about the skeleton sculpture in TFiOS.

[MotocrossingTaco]

someone painted over the quote in the smoking hole. And dont worry it hasn't been forgotten yet

[ahappyhuman]

thats exactly how i pictured it when reading the book oh my god

[TheEracentricChick]

YOU WERE WAY TOO CLOSE TO THAT SWAN WATCH OUT

[QuestionCuriosity]

fewfknsdhlkhnfwsdnfhoihenfpi John i love you

[MotocrossingTaco]

This is my first year to go to this school as a freshman and it is amazing

[LitCastsD13]

Wait, didn't Pudge get bitten by the swan in his left buttock? Woah.

[theoffkeydiva]

was you're high school co-ed or all boys?

[Policemanofficer]

You are my favourite person ever.

[llamalacey]

This video reminds me of the beginning of A Separate Peace!

[benjibunny14]

at least you didnt get bitten by the swan!!!

[HannahIsUnoriginal]

The most dramatic reaction to a bee sting ever committed to film.

[Scorpsed]

Wow. I think this was the best video I've ever seen. o.o Magical, clever, funny... It is awesome!

[19ladybug95]

since reading Looking For Alaska, i have made it a goal of mine to always have electric blue nail polish on my toenails. jsyk

[1penydragon]

Is it weird that watching this somehow gives me some strange form of nostalgia just by the fact that I have read Looking for Alaska?

[idiosynkratic]

@1penydragon I felt the same way.

[lilgurby]

This video is eerily similar to the book A Separate Peace.

[baligaandris]

Going to school there for me would be kind of like going to school to Hogwarts.

[imperfectme125]

Since you were the only one there who was the person at 1:31?

[XxLokiRabbitxX]

I want to go there for High school! I'm in seventh grade right now.... But l live a good distance away... Don't think my parents will want me to go far from home :(

It's kind of an irresistable longing to have that connection with a book that perhaps meant more to me than was intended in the first place... The first time I read it I was about seven. John, Hank, and all of nerdfighteria has done more for me, with out even realizing it, than I can ever hope to repay <3

[TheWarnerSister]

@XxLokiRabbitxX Me too. The thing about repaying is that you never know when to stop. Gratitude can turn into this endless cycle of feeling like you have to respond to what someone else does, and then they have to respond to you and it just goes around and around. But you're part of Nerdfighteria, so I guess the best thing to do is be kind to yourself the way you want to be kind to other Nerdfighters. We all feel this giant debt, so rest assured we're all paying it just by doing our thing. <3

[lookingformybluebox]

I love how in a matter of minutes John can have me laughing and then totally serious and thoughtful.

[heytherelottie]

this is how i imagined the school ahhh

[wishfullwalrus]

I go to Indian Springs school, it's weird seeing John get all nostalgic over things I see everyday. That being said the dorms have been redone and the swan (nicknamed killer) is not a grumpy. But luckily there is still enough drugs to go around! :D I really liked looking for Alaska....

[boxerini]

The first thing I thought when I saw those trampolines is 'I would so try and jump from one to the other.'

[SatanisaBeaverShark]

This provided me with a source of insight I needed to finish my English essay. Thank you, John Green, for helping me finish my homework.

[sharptoothsnail]

Beesting = satori

[MrAntiXofficial]

Ok, the trampoline thing made me spit soda everywhere...lol

[lifetaughtmetodie]

Americans graffiti Emily Dickinson? our walls just say 'jon woz here innit' 

[hithereyousuck]

I almost went to Indian Springs for high school, but I decided to go to Baylor in Chattanooga instead. However, I did go visit it when I was still touring boarding schools, and now I visit Birmingham quite often because I have friends that live there and I always pass it and think "I wonder what my life would have been like if I went there."

Anyway, Looking for Alaska is one of my favorite books of all time, you are one of my favorite authors of all time and the vlogbrothers videos rock. DFTBA!

[kayisfish]

the movie should totes be filmed here. with nerdfighters as extras

[savannamarie206]

@kayisfish with students from Indian Springs as extras! like me! because we actually know how it is to go to the school where the book is set.

[zuzupetals3]

This entire video reminds me of A Separate Peace. 

[kidkat279]

I really wish that I could put anything into words like you do. =]

[dsavix4]

"So the school was quiet in a way that it never got during the school year and for a minute I felt like I was walking through a ghost town, but then I realized that *I* was the ghost."

Seriously, this is brilliant.

[YouGottaBeJokingz]

Does it make you sad that the barn is gone?

[Jakester88]

Hello John, I got redirected here after the latest vlogbrother's videos and I must admit it was an abolute joy to listen to. DFTBA!

[ConfidenceCharm]

The weird thing is that what I've seen of Indian Springs is exactly how I pictured Culver Creek.

Thank you for writing one of my favourite books :3

[TactownGirl]

I'm still reading Looking for Alaska,( I got it on my kindle yesterday) and watching this video dramaticly changed how I will forever picture clover creek in my mind, and I like the new image. THANK YOU!

[godessshannon]

This was my first vlogbrothers video ever 6 months ago :) Love Nerdfighting <3

[ravencarslyle]

Watching these types of videos from John make me think that he must have had a very fascinating life before he became famous. I think it would be nice to just sit somewhere and have him tell stories about his life, like about growing up and stuff...then again I am weird, lol.

[Lindinoxx]

I imagined the school looking like mix between this school and geneseo, the college to which I will someday go. Maybe it's how the classrooms and dorms look like castles there and the smoking hole and the barn yard looking like it did in your school. I guess it creates a perfect picture, of some sort

[907years]

Nothing like I imagined. I always plugged the Taylor University campus (the one in Indiana, yo) into the scenes just because... you know... go with what you know.

[MaddieMusic42]

Just how i imagined it:)

[ChaoticCookie37]

Last words: I'm going to jump from this trampoline to that trampoline. It's going to be awesome!!!

[SerpentsNightmare]

You should have bought some cigarettes and thrown one into the creek for Alaska.

[ChaoticCookie37]

@SerpentsNightmare I love you.

[MattPeters22]

@SerpentsNightmare DUDE, SPOILERS! Tut tut :P

[SerpentsNightmare]

@MattPeters22 Oh my god, you're right. I'm so so sorry.

[ChipNick87]

@SerpentsNightmare gah, some people haven't read the whole book yet dude

[ehart411]

it looks just like i imagined when i read the book

[Flashfire97]

Everyone has these deep and emotional anecdotes. While I have read the book, I feel bad because all I have to offer is the irony of John saying we got through the jam "instantaneously". (to those of you who have not read the book in the past week or so you might not get it.)

[monkey49278]

My favorite famous last words is Carl Marx's. He told a reporter who was asking for his last words, "Get on, go on. Last words are for those who haven't said enough."

[Carlysaurloveshugs]

LIstening to John makes me feel like a smarter and better person. Listening to Hank makes me feel extremely stupid but I walk away from it smarter. It is a win-win, you two are the perfect people to lead the movement to decrease world suck.

[OwlCityFan26]

Woah, the end was really deep.

[ziggypwner]

Those shots of places in looking for Alaska were just as I imagined them. Therefore, you succeeded

[revolutionrae]

Oh my god. watching this makes me want to cry. If only because I love the book so much, and I relate so much to it. I know, I know, everybody says it. But reading Looking for Alaska changed me. Significantly. I feel like Miles and the Colonel and Alaska and Takumi and even Lara are all mine, pieces of me, of my life. I can't explain it, but that book means the world to me. And seeing this brings it even more to life.

[TheCruciatusCurse]

Is it wierd that I feel, like, really nostalgic while watching this? I mean, I didn't even exist in 1995, but still I sort of long for it, in some way. This was an awesome video, which made me feel very depressed... in a good way (sort of). If that makes sense. Which it totally don't. P.S sorry for all the grammar fails, I'm a swede and it is in the middle of the night.

[SkitzophrenicNerd]

I wonder if there was a kid at that school who was reading the book and like "What the crap?! This is my school. No, really, this is my school!" before they knew that it was, in fact, their school.

[micaelaboschetti]

The biggest compliment I have ever received, was that I remind my friend a lot of Alaska Young (:

[starlight1060]

Wow what a beautiful video.

[QueenOfTheAubergines]

I'm at upper school now (I'm 14, I'm not sure what school I'd be in if I was in America, but here I'm year 9, first year of upper school), and whenever I read books like Looking For Alaska I'm reminded of all the things I'm still to experience- first love, the stress of big exams etc. Thing is, my school is a very typical school in my town and I just can't experience college until I'm the right age. This sounds stupidly obvious, but it annoys me that I can't do all these things now.

[milkyway531]

@QueenOfTheAubergines Trust me, you're not the only one who feels like this

[iamacatspy]

@QueenOfTheAubergines In America when you're 14 you're in 9th grade, your first year of high school.

[RandomScienceGirl]

Wow! I got that the book was a lot like his high school and everything but not that much! Also if you didn't find youself crying during looking for Alaska than I must wonder if you have a heart.

[squishy300]

I was BORN in 1995. It makes me feel old and young at the same time.

[DulamanGaelach]

Why is it that every time John Green speaks it sounds like he's reading from a book? This amazes me greatly.

[emilyalice95]

I feel like I need to go back and read the book again now, so I can re-imagine what everything looks like, is that weird?

[buggieslove13]

Love the book like everyone else I'm sure I am not the only one to point this out but her got stung on his butt just like pudge got bitten by the swan

[OmgitsNeens]

I too like many others apparently imagined the setting in the book almost exactly the way as it really looks. That's bizarre that so many of us were able to do that given that John didn't go TERRIBLY out of his way to describe it in detail. Weird!

[stillusescrayons]

It is so creepy that how I imagined the setting of the book is the same as it truely exists.

[SheCanTalk13]

*Goosebumps*

[DaftAnime]

Are you sure it wasn't a swan that got you on your left butt cheek?

[picklesmoothies]

This is legitimately how I pictured it all. wow.

[TammiBloo]

When I read Looking for Alaska I didn't really realize that it was a real place, but of course I had my own mental picture of the setting. And now that I see it's a real place, it looks JUST like my mental picture! That's so awesome. :)

[WeDaBomb21]

I feel like such a horrible person because I laughed when John said, "Oh, daddy!"

[mrsshikles]

I'm from a town named after Simon Bolivar. I should probably read Looking for Alaska for numerous reasons.

[Quintinia]

And this is why John has won so many literary awards; because he can put into words what so many of us grasp at but can't articulate.

[SerPinkKnight]

Man this just makes me depressed about ym own life :(

[lyksuccsessful]

Ugh, swan...

[lyksuccsessful]

Bee sting, swam bite?

[Tropiduridae]

Come home, John. Florida misses you.

[NinjaWieldingLimes]

At 2:45, did I heard John Green utter the word "motherf****r"?

[HauntedAndEnchanted]

I watch this video whenever I need to be inspired to live life to the fullest. I'm young, and I need to remember to do "stupid" stuff so I have these memories.

[cupcakes1348]

this almost made me dry for some reason.

[videocatcher234]

Very similar to how I imagined it. Beautiful.

[PandaPornography]

i wish i had gone to that school :T

[HappiestEverEmoBoy]

I like that there in an Emily Dickens quote in the smoking hole, Takumi when raping in the the smoking hole made a reference to Emily Dickens during the first trip to the smoking hole in the book.

"Like Emily Dickinson, I ain't afraid of slant rhyme / And that's the end of this verse; emcee's out on a high."

Life imitates art.

[leighia1]

your high school is so cool.

[TBNotebook]

The bee's nickname is probably The Swan.

[VloggerWill]

Now one has to wonder, did John have any bad experiences with the swan? My guess is yes, or he wouldn't have described it the way he did.

[VloggerWill]

This is so chilling. I can envision Miles, Alaska, the Colonel, Takumi and Lara walking along where John was. It's depressing how the barn was torn down and the dorms were replaced. It's really eerie how I felt a weird sense of nostalgia as John was telling about his experiences at Indian Springs.

[xemily91]

I rewatched this after having read LFA and I gasped so loudly...you described the field perfectly, that is EXACTLY what I pictured, and the Smoking Hole, just...wow.

[CiaraDecoursey]

This is almost exactly what I though it would look like

[donnajbagley]

this is my favorite video too....

[dstrbdxxxprncess]

Wow, that was beautiful in a different way...

[xxLibs]

Although I've been watching your videos for almost two years now I somehow missed this one and I'm glad I did because this way I had a chance to read Looking for Alaska without knowing how everything looks like. The funny thing is, I imagined it almost exactly the same as it is in reality :)

[luckixduckyx77]

i finished it at 1:30 this morning. I loved it. I haven't read a book "for fun" since the end of the school year because of summer homework, so this was a much needed and welcomed joy.

It took me about 2 weeks to read it, though that was only because i'm reading Crime and Punishment and Hamlet for my AP lit class.

[GingerandNuts]

@luckixduckyx77 Wow I also finished at 1:30am (though probably in a different time zone) and hadn't read a book for joy in a while but i'm so glad i did. I kinda liked that I shared the experience with someone :)

[navyhockey8]

This was basically the first Thoughts from Places video...

[jeebzPB]

JOHN. YOU'RE. SO. DAMN. DEEP. (:

[TealPantherTimes]

I am reading Looking for Alaska, and you totally just ruined the setting in my head

[katherine9997]

I've read that book like 6 times ^^

[xstrawberryXbananax]

I have gone to Indian Springs for 5 years; I will be graduating this year. I LOVE looking for Alaska. it was amazing to read a book and be so familiar with the setting and the characters. I live on campus and it is so awesome to see John Green filming my home! my dad, the bio teacher, created the garden! Those trampolines belong to my friend and we used to imagine that big rock in between them was the fin of an underground shark hahaha. oh, people DO still smoke.. just in different places. :D

[milkyway531]

@xstrawberryXbananax 5 years?

[alremul]

@xstrawberryXbananax You should go to the smoking hole and put looking for alaska quotes!

[devilseagull]

@xstrawberryXbananax I love when you know the places in books. I feel similar reading books by people like Dickens about London. :)

[amandaxlea]

Just finished it last night, excellent read

[funnypets456]

I enjoy the trampolines...and the inevitable poor and punishing decisions that will end up following them.

[CloveForay]

I feel that when I'm watching your videos, it's like I'm sucked into a favorite novel without a coherent timeline. As I come and go different titles pop up and where I was once set upon watching the sequel video, my mind diverges onto a new path of your lives. And the absolute best part is, while I'm learning your past, I already know your futures. I know that what you become and what you make are good. And you spread this goodness to others. And I guess I just wanted to say: Thank you.

[95GrBr]

I just got the book "Looking for Alaska" from the library today. It is driving me crazy that I have to finish my homework before I can read it. I've heard you and Hank talk about it and read alot of great reviews here and on your website. Can't wait!! DFTBA

[veryspecialist]

I just finished "Looking for Alaska" this afternoon and it made me cry. I understand that this will just be another of those comments that is telling you how great your book is and I know I am one of many, many people who have read it, but to me it felt personal, and I'm sure it did to others as well. If someone reading this hasn't read Looking for Alaska, then do. Maybe it will inspire you, as it did me, to go and seek a great perhaps, in the hope of enduring the Labyrinth. DFTBA

[SeahorseyPrincess]

Wow, despite having never seen much of an American boarding school, parts of that were exactly how I imagined Culver Creek. That means you must be a very good writer, John! :P

[jcjochristian]

just finished the book, that was awesome!

[Bammarjackass]

@jcjochristian Me too, had to come back and watch this.

[Sandstorm1029]

Ah, the way you were walking around your old boarding school while it was absent of people and how you had two places that you needed to see, reminded me of the opening of A Separate Peace. And then being able to see the school you based Culver Creek on was truly amazing. Now I want to go reread Looking For Alaska....

[mattcst]

"Fiction is the only way I can even begin to twist my lying memories into something true."

You're so good at saying things! Also everyone who's ever Looking for Alaska should watch this video.

[iiTJS]

great book

[2gigapuppies]

I've been begging my parents to go to boarding school for years, and this was at the top of my list. *sigh*

[krootkc]

This video inspired me to write a novella which I am entering into a writing competition and right now procrastinating from editing.

[steelvenom2003]

Still my favorite vlogbrothers video.

[FlargTheKitty]

You're like Gene in A Seperate Peace, revisiting your museums!

ak;ehds I guess good things do come of reading crap books for schools. Now I sound smart in the comments of a youtube video!!

[sirbestnameever]

if they were to make the film theyed have to film it there just film it on weekends and school holidays