Back to School

verabear Tags/Memes, When I was a kid... 10 Comments

For most kids in the Philippines, school’s been back for three weeks. Sometimes I wish to go back to that young and carefree life, but then I remember how much I didn’t like school. Really. I may have been a good student in the eyes of classmates and teachers, but deep inside I was itching to be outta there. Homework wasn’t something I cared much about, but they had to be done. And waking up early! My gawd!

Oh okay, it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t hate it. I just really didn’t like studying. I really love reading, just not books for my academics. Although I did enjoy reading school books one summer while I was in elementary school. Guess what they were? The Noli and Fili. It was either my kuya or our kasambahay’s books that I read. So I went through the required reading for Pinoy high school juniors and seniors just because I liked it. But when I had to read along as a high school Senior myself, I didn’t. I read Greek/Roman mythology too, from my brother’s books. But we didn’t tackle them in English class much (bummer).

I further realized how much I didn’t like being in school when I gave up dreams of being a lawyer. Seeing Malcolm Hall regulars with their 4-5 inch thick daily readings turned me off. Spare me the agony. It just wasn’t for me. Years later, when Friendster was all the rave, I went through a crisis. Batchmates in medical school or law school made me envious. That should be me! Instead, I was working at an NGO (I loved my work then, don’t get me wrong). It felt like I wasn’t chasing after my dream.

But then I realized, well, it could be me. If I really wanted it.

It wasn’t a question of whether I could make it through law school, or med school. I’m sure I could. But I had to be realistic. I would be miserable at least half the time!

Now there’s something I really enjoyed while I was studying: Writing. Not copying notes, mind you. Composition writing. Theme writing. To a certain extent, I liked having to do ‘papers.’ Some kids would complain about having to write essays on exams; as for me, I loved it!

I had no problem getting good essay writing. As long as there was a question to answer, and I was inspired, the words would flow through my pen to the paper. How many “my memorable summer experience” essays did I have to write in my life? ‘Don’t remember. Sometimes I wish they were returned to me, or that I bothered to keep them. I don’t think kids have to write those themes anymore.

No doubt, the yearly journalism workshops we did for the school paper (Young Trinitian’s Voice) were invaluable experiences. They did help me write better. I attended for three years, grades 4 to 6. I missed that when I moved on to (a different) high school. When I look back, I knew more about writing and putting a paper together when I was younger. Now I know zilch. And my writing’s gone bad I can’t make money doing business in research paper for sale. haha!

So there. I guess I didn’t hate school after all and it wasn’t a dreadful experience.

How about you, did you look forward to writing exercises in school?

By the way, photo is mine. Those are my colleagues taking notes during the big meeting we all attended back in April.