| I went to local public elementary schools. My first two years were at a school a long way from my house. I was then transferred to a brand new school that was much closer. It was nestled in a rather large woods, and I soon learned that when things got a bit rough at school I could always escape into the woods. I was pretty good at making myself scarce, and once I was beyond the tree line no one could find me. (Guess tracking was a lost art in suburban Maryland!) That tendency didn't do much for my academic progress. Either did my hyper-activity. Thinking on it as an adult, it must have been a real pain for my teachers. It did confirmed and solidify my love for the woods, and I still hold the wild places dear today. |
| After completing elementary school, I attended a private school for most of junior high. I was eventually booted out of there for misbehavior, or more accurately, not fitting in with the rest of the student body. Even though my stay there ended rather abruptly, it was still a valuable experience. The school cost quite a lot of money, and harbored some rather wealthy kids. The contact with them let me to lose any awe I might have felt for the rich. They were just like anyone else, some better, some worse. Just kids, subject to all of the complications of adolescent life just as I was. |
| I completed that last year in of junior high school in the public school that I had originally been headed to anyway. It was quite a shock. I went from an environment that valued intellect to one that valued more physical virtues. I managed to survive that half year, and from there went on to the local high school. There, I discovered after the first year that there were good things in school, something about which I had previously had some doubt. I joined the gymnastics team, and from then on was very careful to attain grades just good enough so that I could stay on the team. I was never a very good gymnast, but it was fun, and I loved doing it. |