I really hated school.
I was creep. I was a freak. I had this head full of long wavy hair – and this was back in the 70’s when girls wore their hair straight.
I’d have been bullied too, but the thing is I had a mean right hook and I wasn’t afraid to use it.
But I did enjoy subjects like science and history. I read my text books for fun and then I’d go to the library and find books to read on those same subjects.
One of my grade school teachers looked like Rick Nielson from Cheap Trick and he encouraged me to write and to learn music and play the guitar. I liked him a lot and because I thought he was a great guy I took his advice and those two things are things that I still pursue.
Like I said, I hated school. I viewed it as something to get through. I didn’t make friends, I didn’t join any clubs. The minute I got up in the morning knew it was going to be a bad day.
Being in that hostile environment did nothing to squash my love of history, science and the arts.
When I think about it, that may have been the best lesson I took away from school.
Your reflection captures an honesty that is both refreshing and profound. The tension between hating school as an institution yet loving learning as an act of curiosity feels deeply relatable. Very few people know that education and schooling are not always the same thing. However, the irony of thriving intellectually in a place that felt stifling turns your story into a quiet triumph. It’s a reminder that true learning often happens not because of school, but in spite of it.
Thank you Benson! My Mom and my Great Grandmother both said the same thing about school- it didn’t matter if the teacher was nice, if the students were nice. What mattered was learning. So that’s what I focused on. My lessons. But lucky for me, I loved those.