Sorry... this will be a long one. Like some other people I know, I seem incapable of short blogs. I did another
high school quiz thing way back when. It's on 360, though, so good luck =/
There is a tag going around with questions relating to school. My reaction to a few of the questions was short and sweet... "Huh?" Schooling in so many ways was so different for me compared to, say, US and Canadian schools. I will do that quiz with that in mind, explaining what our schools were like. Note, I say 'were' because I can't speak for what South African schools are like now. For my South African friends... if I have forgotten something or gotten something wrong, feel free to jump in and let me know, especially if you're living in foreign lands and are familiar with the comparisons.
School, for us, was divided into two parts, Primary school and High school. Back when I started school, we had Sub A, Sub B... then Standards 1 - 5 in Primary School. High school consisted of Standards 6 - 10. Standard 10 was known as our Matric year. When Tatiana went to school, we were living in a different province and the school years were named grades, so she went from Grade 1 - 12... same number of years though.
Go to kindergarten? Kindergarten, to me, is the same as pre-school. It was very unusual for kids to go to kindergarten when I started school, so 'no'. I turned 5 in Sub A (grade 1) though.
Graduate from high school? Yes. Let's leave it at that. I wasn't exactly scholastic by that time.
Go to college? I am not sure what is meant by 'college'. I know it is somewhat different to our concept. When we completed our 12 years basic schooling, we had a choice of college or university. Those with sufficient grades could go to University. The 'lesser' grades could go to college. At college, you earned diplomas, as opposed to the degrees you earn at university.
No, I did not go to college. I went straight to work to help suplement my gran's pension. She had no additional income to support us.
Get straight A's in school? Until Standard 7 (grade 9), I was an A student... ok, more of a B student haha! In Std 8, I changed schools and went from an all English curriculum to an all Afrikaans curriculum. Although I was fluent in my mother tongue, I struggled with my subjects. It was also an emotional year for me (doesn't take much) and I slipped way down. I was sent back to an English school the next year, but never quite made it back up again.
Go to prom? Most schools only had one dance, the Matric dance, held just before you leave school. The boarding school I was at held a dance every term though (our year was divided into 4 school terms). At the end of the school career, we had the Matric dance, though and that was special. The entire event was planned and run by the Std 9's (grade 11's).
Every Matric went. There was no missing it. Heck, we were in boarding school. That was our social life ; ) Just joking... even in regular school, it wasn't something one missed.
Take part in extracurricular? This one is easy. I was in choir all through school. Choir was my passion. I also took part in the SCA (Student's Christian Association), chess, debate and was librarian. I did drum majorettes in my first two years of high school, but gave that up, as I permanently had grazed knees, which didn't quite match the cutesy outfits we had to wear.
Play any school sports? Tennis (I was quickly removed from the team, as I was either flat on my face or returning the ball to my partner when playing doubles), swimming (loved that!), hockey. Oddly enough, as long as I kept my stick away from other people's shins, I did fairly well with that.
Graduate in the top ten of your class? Uh.... no. I was a very average student... never at the bottom, never at the top. I just muddled through school, much the way I muddle through life.
Miss a lot of school? Sadly, no. All major events and illnesses were reserved for holidays and weekends *sigh* I think I missed a total of 4 days.
Have a favorite teacher? Hm... I had a few. My Std 5 teacher, Miss Brown, was wonderful. She pushed us and challenged us to the hilt, preparing us very well for high school. We all loved her. In general, my English teacher in each year was probably my favourite. I was blessed with great English teachers.
Go to football games? We had soccer and rugby. Soccer being the game with the round patchy ball and rugby being the barbaric, no protective clothing, game with the odd shaped ball. I would watch soccer only when there was some other activity I was desperate to avoid, but rugby watching held no interest for me. I'm not, nor was I ever, a sporty person.
Enjoy pep rallies? I had no idea at all what a pep rally was, so I looked it up. That would have been our Interschool athletics. Those were obligatory to attend. I attended my last one in Std 6. What a fiasco. The school was meant to organise buses home for us and the organiser forgot our area. I walked most of the way home (we lived far from the school). I called my gran from a public phone on the way, so she wouldn't panic. My gran called the principle during his dinner and threatened him with the school board. It was 8pm. He was none too pleased, but personally went to fetch us all and take us home.
Know what you wanted to be when you grew up? Yes, I wanted to be a social worker.
Pack your lunch or buy? Packed... until I got to boarding school where we had a sit-down lunch.
Like gym class? We called it PT (Physical training or torture, depending on who was using the term). Blegh... yuck... eeew! I was neither athletic nor flexible. Any excuse would do. Trouble is, I was as bad at coming up with excuses as I was at athletics.
Have a bunch of friends in school? Nope... I generally had one good friend, possibly two. I wasn't Miss Popular by any stretch of the imagination.
Fit into a clique like jock, stoner, geek, etc? I'm not cliquey at all. I was never in a clique... usually the one on the outside looking in, though, to be honest, I was content with my one or two friends. I'm not a group-type person. I did often wonder what it took to be accepted though.
Have a nickname in school? In primary school, they knew they could get me really mad by calling me Corrie. One girl took particular delight in doing that. I blogged about her once. I'll be darned if I can find that blog. I didn't really have nicknames in high school, thank goodness... either that, or they were so ghastly, I have blocked them from memory. So much of my past is one huge grey area.
Get picked on in school? Well, I was slow, the class klutz, often teacher's pet, and I was 'different'. Sure I got picked on. I had a particularly select group of tormentors. Funny, I could stand up to teachers who picked on me, but not kids.
Have a favorite subject? English and art (Yes, I know that is two... I ignore all numbers issues at best)
Have a least favorite subject? Maths and History! I was relatively good at Maths up to Std 7 (grade 9), then the ship sunk. History was ruined for me in Std 6 by a *insert foul word* teacher who took delight in getting the girls to stand on a chair and kiss Hitler's photo. In Std 9, an old hag who was to teach us asked me if I liked History on my first day in her class. I answered 'no' (being honest 'n all). She replied, "I think you're in the wrong class then." She was a fanatic. I agreed with her, packed up and went to change my class to art. Best move I ever made.
Go to graduation? Graduation for us was during school time, so yes, everyone went, though for us, it was just a service where the school said goodbye. There was no going onto the platform to collect certificates or anything.
Have a crush on anyone in school? I had a crush, but he wasn't in school. Dang, we do stupid things sometimes!
Go to any class reunions? I went to one. It was a waste of time... totally, except for one thing. I learnt that I was just as good as any of them in my own way and I no longer had a need of the clique. In fact, the clique was no longer remotely appealing. Some of the girls who snubbed me had actually done quite badly for themselves.
Whew.... you made it through that? Hm... others posted photos of them in the 80's. Want a photo of boring? This was taken at one of the school dances.
