Getting To Know Me

My school days as a child had a big impact on the rest of my life.

Certain events helped mold me into the person I am today.....

both spiritually and politically.

Some events were minor and some major. Take for example these:

Primary....cried most of the first month, did not like school one bit.

Grade 1....Began to settle down somewhat.

Grade 2....Me and my friend got 'strapped' for laughing in church

during benediction service. It really hurt.

Grade 3....I got another 'strapping' for mimicking the sound
of the bell while standing in line. This teacher was old rather cranky.

Grade 4....Uneventful, must have learned to follow the rules.

Grade 5....Had older boys in this class who should have been
in grades 7 or 8. Couldn't understand why they were there.
Realized eventually that they failed this grade a couple of times
and were held back, as was the custom back then.

Grade 6....the BEST teacher, Miss Burke. She had her hands full
as she 'inherited' all those big guys and the rest of us little guys.
She had to follow the school rules but could never strap us......
she had us strap ourselves out of sight in the coatroom.
It was hilarious at times because we all knew (and so did she)
that some would hit the strap on the window ledge
instead of hitting their hands with the strap.
She also took us on a trip around the province, by bus,
the first time for most of us going so far from home
and for three days!! Loved it!

Grade 7....Me and best friend John always getting ourselves
 in trouble for laughing our heads off at anything we
found funny....we would get out of control.
And yes.....strapped again! I remember the teacher
telling me while she was strapping me (and it still HURT)
that she felt so bad for doing this because my mother 
was such a wonderful person! Didn't stop her from strapping 
me a few more times that year.

Grade 8....Best friend John and I got hauled 
(were asked/told to report) to the church early one Saturday morning
by the pastor. I guess he felt that we had to learn 
to speak louder when  responding in Latin during the mass.
We were both altar boys and I he felt we needed to learn to shout.
He and another priest were far in the back 
while John and I were on the altar. They made us scream the
responses to them so they could hear them all the way to the back.

It was the first time I can remember feeling humiliated 
and I noticed they both got a kick of it.

'Things' changed that Saturday morning for me. I wasn't sure
how but knew I saw things differently from then on.

Better end this post on a positive note!!

Grade 9....I had a very 'good year' as far as staying out of trouble
(and I was one of the good kids). 

Funny thing about all this is that I ended up being a teacher!!
For most of my schooling I did not like school one little bit....
starting on that first day in Primary when I knew this was
not going to be for me.