I have little recollection of my nursery school experience. I do remember I broke my arm when I was three, and I sang both solo and in a band at the nursery school pageants. There are even pictures of me singing, but, frankly speaking, I can't imagine myself singing in front of the public now. Also, I had a boyfriend whom I would often bring small things like pens and pencil sharpeners as presents.
A lot of kids from my playgroup got into the same form of the comprehensive school with me. I enjoyed neither the first 4 years in the primary school nor the next two years in the secondary school. It was mostly because I had no friends in my form, and most of my groupmates despised me because of my good report. But I must admit I did show off, so I kind of deserved it. I tried to join arts and crafts club, but I gave it up after a short while, I think because it wasn't my cup of tea after all, but I read a lot in my spare time.
My life changed greatly when a new student came into our form. We became friends, and both decided to move to another school at the end of the school year. It was a selective secondary school (we had to pass an English and a Maths exam to be admitted). Here the atmosphere was more relaxed for me, because the emphasis was on academic achievement, and bright students like myself were encouraged to blossom intellectually. And I did excel, in many subjects, because... I think I liked them all - English, Economics, Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc were my favourite subjects.
This somehow presented a difficulty for me later, because when I was leaving school, I was agonising over the decision about which career to pursue. I think my parents insisted that I should study languages, now it seems to me it was more their decision than mine, but I have never regretted it. The university was the place where I met great people, learned great ideas, read great books, and learned languages of course. When I got my bachelor's degree I thought I might get some part-time job, more for the sake of experience than money, so my full time master's degree course plus evening English classes that I was giving resulted in pneumonia, which took me a looooooooooooooooong time to recover from.
If I could do it all again, would I do anything differently? I certainly made the right decision regarding leaving the comprehensive and going to the grammar school. If I were back at comprehensive school, I'd make more of an effort to be liked. And I'd take advantage of extra-curricular activities in both schools, but I don't think there were great many of them on offer. And I certainly don't regret going to university, and I hope you don't either.
A lot of kids from my playgroup got into the same form of the comprehensive school with me. I enjoyed neither the first 4 years in the primary school nor the next two years in the secondary school. It was mostly because I had no friends in my form, and most of my groupmates despised me because of my good report. But I must admit I did show off, so I kind of deserved it. I tried to join arts and crafts club, but I gave it up after a short while, I think because it wasn't my cup of tea after all, but I read a lot in my spare time.
My life changed greatly when a new student came into our form. We became friends, and both decided to move to another school at the end of the school year. It was a selective secondary school (we had to pass an English and a Maths exam to be admitted). Here the atmosphere was more relaxed for me, because the emphasis was on academic achievement, and bright students like myself were encouraged to blossom intellectually. And I did excel, in many subjects, because... I think I liked them all - English, Economics, Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc were my favourite subjects.
This somehow presented a difficulty for me later, because when I was leaving school, I was agonising over the decision about which career to pursue. I think my parents insisted that I should study languages, now it seems to me it was more their decision than mine, but I have never regretted it. The university was the place where I met great people, learned great ideas, read great books, and learned languages of course. When I got my bachelor's degree I thought I might get some part-time job, more for the sake of experience than money, so my full time master's degree course plus evening English classes that I was giving resulted in pneumonia, which took me a looooooooooooooooong time to recover from.
If I could do it all again, would I do anything differently? I certainly made the right decision regarding leaving the comprehensive and going to the grammar school. If I were back at comprehensive school, I'd make more of an effort to be liked. And I'd take advantage of extra-curricular activities in both schools, but I don't think there were great many of them on offer. And I certainly don't regret going to university, and I hope you don't either.
