What was your school life like?

[Mikaiah]

elementary school - ptsd from getting homeschooled a mother who doesnt believe in evolution then later a religious school where i did ok, i think. don't remember much honestly but i didn't have friends
middle school - moved around a lot, went to 4 of these. one of them was by NASA, which was kinda cool.
high school - idk i just laid low? my school was hella competitive tho. but i stayed out of drama for the most part (ppl were deeming those with 3.5 gpa as "too dumb to associate with" it was really stupid if you ask me. but they got rid of class ranks for a reason at that school lol).

uni - i have friends and a social life now and im more stressed (cus stuff is harder lol)

 

[Bluebellie]

I never liked school. I wasn’t bad at it, I just didn’t like it. I wasn’t bullied or anything like that. My grades were excellent, way past the 4.0, and all my classes were advanced. I am a shy person so I kept to myself mostly and hung out with a small group of friends. I remember it was very rough for me every time there were mayor changes. Like starting new schools, switching from elementary to middle, then to high school. Sometimes I would cry at night at the amount of work the teachers would assign. Honestly, it was very stressful. I always got everything done though. I don’t think I ever enjoyed school until maybe 11 or 12 grade. Those were probably my best years. I had most of my classes as elective and they were all art classes. My teachers liked me and would let me go do my own thing in the art room. I guess I only liked school those two years because I wasn’t really bombarded with work.

 

[ali.di.magix]

Elementary/primary school was very meh. I was incredibly shy and hardly ever spoke out to anyone. I only had one friend, and between us two, we were alienated as the weirdos or freaks of our year level. I had very specific interests in very few tv shows and other media that never matched with anyone else, which often resulted in teasing/bullying from my peers. I got along better with my teachers than my fellow students, so I was a bit of teachers pet. I had no social skills whatsoever, and often lashed out at people who annoyed me, which isolated me even more. I was often bullied by other kids for being overweight as well. My self esteem was incredibly low back then and I was extremely sensitive to criticism from others, so the comments that were made often made me feel worse. I didn't have to move schools for middle school/intermediate, but I made the decision to move on my own accord and never looked back.

My middle school was much better and a very eye opening experience. My friend and I went our own ways and I made my own group of friends. My first year there was the best as my classmates all got along really well. I made a great new best friend and friend group, the most friends I had ever had up until that point. The second year we all went our own ways, my friend didn't want much to do with me anymore. My class was very troublesome, there were a lot of kids there that had troubled upbringings. Kids still bullied me about my weight throughout middle school, which sucked.

Most of high school was pretty good. I had a really good class in first year, which I made a bunch of friends. I still have my best friends from high school today. We had such good times during lunchtimes. We were weirdos, but we owned it and didn't give a damn what people thought of us. I did pretty well, won a few awards while in high school. By the end of it though, I was really sick of the schooling system, and there were a select few people who made my classes a living hell. I couldn't wait to get out.

In university, I didn't really make many friends. I stayed at home, so I didn't bond with others as much as the people who went flatting or into the dorms. I didn't have much of a social life, but it didn't really bother me as I'm not all that social anyway. I still kept in contact with my high school friends, and made a few new friends through my courses at uni. I did get severely burned out halfway through though. My mental and physical health were shattered for years. It was a struggle to get through my degree and many times I didn't think I'd make it. It took me longer compared to others, but I dont regret pushing through and getting my degree.

 

[-Blue-]

Transferred to one school and was bullied a lot. I was from a different region and had a southern dialect compared to the common one most Americans have. So I am sure people perceived me as being dumb and inferior. I trained myself to get rid of my dialect.

It got to the point where it wasn't just insults or horseplay shenanigans, but they would try to fight and hurt me. My family's advice was always just to keep my head down and not to do anything. After a while I had enough, exercised/weight-trained, had a neighbor who taught me self-defense, and when these bullies tried their old crap I threw it right back in their face. They never bothered me again and moved onto another unfortunate victim.

That's just what they do. They look for someone who is 'weak' but really, they're the pathetic ones.

It sucks, but that's how it is. The school's never hold the bullies accountable and when the victim retaliates oh god that's cause for suspension. I wouldn't do it differently though. They deserved what was coming to them.

 

[Romaki]

Bad! The thing is in retrospect those things seem pretty easy to deal with, but you just can't do that as a kid. The most important thing you can do during that time it to always speak out and find the appropriate people who should listen to it. I think speaking out during that time would have helped me a lot. But time (and therapy) helps too, it's not even about the old experiences it's just about growing up and learning to love yourself and your worth.

I was always an outcast, but I also never did after school activities where I could have met more non-bully kids. I was just as lazy and disinterested as bullies which robbed me of fun experiences but whatever. The thing is, there were also psychopathic teachers that would bully me like??? hello??

Like, yes, that ten year old laughed at me because I was fat, but that adult made fun of me because I couldn't remember a date??? Maybe studying is tough when you're afraid of school??? Pfft.

Being a constant bully victim really destroys your confidence, which sucks. Obviously. But I think it also made me a very loving and understandable person. But it still sucks though. But I'm fine now.

 

[VernalLapin]

I was always pretty shy and my closest friends have always been the ones to introduce themselves first. I’ve tried to introduce myself, because other shy kids deserve it. Though I felt like I was really bad at it and kind of gave up I guess (which I shouldn’t have).

I hated middle school so much. It was small and mostly the same people I’d known since kindergarten. Though I had friends, I couldn’t wait to branch out in high school and meet even more people, which I did!

I’m not sure if I was bullied enough to say I was bullied, if that makes sense? Certain kids did mess with me but thankfully it was tame in the grand scheme of things. I had a lot of teachers that were unfair or unkind to me at one point or another, and I could probably spend 2 hours talking about all of those times. Again though, it was nowhere near as bad as some teachers I’ve heard about.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

It was pure misery for me. High school basically ruined my entire life because of severe bullying which the school refused to do anything to help and actively chose to blame me for the problem instead of doing their jobs. It got so bad that I actually became extremely depressed and had suicidal thoughts by my senior year and it took so much energy just to make it through a single day and not try to do something extreme out of finally snapping because I couldn’t handle it anymore. I left that place with self esteem so low that I didn’t even think I was even good enough to be accepted by any colleges that I only applied to a total of three universities and the local community college because I didn’t see what the point was if I was just going to be rejected anyway. I still have PTSD flashbacks and many many triggers. It’s because of high school that I will freak out and run out of the room if someone tosses a pen or marker towards me or flings a rubber band across the room.

 

[Snek]

It was like prison. I wore a uniform. It sucked. Don't really want to talk too much about it. I did great in my subjects though which lead to uni and a degree I never use

 

[Foreverfox]

School was fine for me. I went to a small private school K-12 and graduated with 6 of the same people I went to kindergarten with, and a class of 32 total. I floated between cliques easily and was friends with mostly everyone. With a school that small, I knew everyone’s name, and everyone knew who everyone’s parents were. I played flute in band from 5th-12th grade, and was 1st chair all of high school, was in National Honor Society, played basketball in middle school and was on the varsity team in 9th grade, and was on the yearbook staff at one point. We wore uniforms, and at the time, I didn’t like them. Now I actually see the benefit of them though and I wish all schools did uniforms.

 

[Croconaw]

We wore uniforms, and at the time, I didn’t like them. Now I actually see the benefit of them though and I wish all schools did uniforms.

As an adult, I see the benefit being that it reduces bullying. Nobody can make fun of anyone for their outfit if everyone looks the same. I personally don’t think I would’ve liked uniforms, though, since there’s probably some “you cannot dye your hair unnatural colors” rule that comes along with it. I prefer places with a little more freedom of expression.

 

[Mr.Fox]

Now I actually see the benefit of them though and I wish all schools did uniforms.

I completely agree with this. You just caused me to have a flashback from a couple months ago. A few of my friends were back in town at the same time so we decided to get together for a few drinks/smokes in someone's backyard who had a fire pit. So we're all sitting around reminiscing and having a laugh, when someone opened up an old wound that I thought was pretty inappropriate.

A says to B, 'Remember when we went on the trip to the apple farm and you were afraid to go in the freezer so you just stood outside hugging Mrs. K?', pretty innocent right? Well clearly B didn't find it that funny, because he then says to A:

'Remember when you wore the same sweater every single day because your family had no money?', and suddenly nobody was laughing.

The things from adolescence...sadly I think there's a lot of people who carry that baggage with them through life.

 

[LadyDestani]

Now I actually see the benefit of them though and I wish all schools did uniforms.

My biggest issue with the idea of uniforms is being forced to wear a skirt. As long as the uniforms weren't gender-specific, I don't think I'd have a huge problem with it. I never went to a school that required uniforms, but I remember being so relieved to find out they had a pants option when I joined Girl Scouts.

 

[Foreverfox]

My biggest issue with the idea of uniforms is being forced to wear a skirt. As long as the uniforms weren't gender-specific, I don't think I'd have a huge problem with it. I never went to a school that required uniforms, but I remember being so relieved to find out they had a pants option when I joined Girl Scouts.

Yeah, thankfully we could wear pants too, and in elementary school there was even an option for shorts! But they were hideous lol

 

[CylieDanny]

I was homeschooled for the majority of my life, and made some amazing memories. I loved it.

I chose to go back to highschool and well. I regreted it. The only good thing that came from it was I met a really close friend.

Otherwise. I was a rebel, and a fool. Highschool had changed me, and im glad to be in a better place now. Could have been much worse.

I loved College. I just wish I could have met my teachers and classmates. Because it was online due to the Covid restrictions.

With my recent grad, I just hope things will get better. In my heart I know they will..

 

[nightglow]

Elementary was pretty good. Kids then were more chill and just wanted to be friends. Middle school was dumb. That was when racism kicked in and accusation of being gay or lesbian became a thing. It was also when kids started to be violent in hallways.
High school was a little better, but a lot of people kept to themselves or to their own little groups, but I was made to change schools in high school to a place that only I existed in my grade, and only two other people existed that were close to my age. Also there were other stuff too that was going on outside of school that was negative. School topics were also very boring but I flew through them and skipped a grade as a result to graduate early. I got great grades in everything but math.
College was disappointing but I didn't acquire debt. So I guess college evened out. Sometimes I feel like it was a waste of time, but idk.

Adulthood is much better, even if it is fragile and has crushing moments.

 

[Khaoticnoize187]

I kept to myself all the time just like i do now honestly glad im out way too much drama and petty **** happening there i can't say i feel sorry at all if one day i wake up and hear my old schools were closing down.

 

[Metal Scorpion]

I did not like it very much. I've burned bridges with people I knew from high school because I disliked my time there so much. Nothing went right in those four years, from being bullied, mistreated and having "friends" talk behind my back and people lying about being supportive about me and such. The small problems then came back to haunt me in the present.

 

[Envy]

I went to good public schools, especially compared to the general quality of schools in my state. I am grateful for that. I had many great teachers and got to be a part of a nationally competing marching band in high school.

It wasn't perfect, though. In elementary and middle school I was made fun of a lot. I did eventually find a friend group. Then high school happened, that friend group suddenly hated me. I got made fun of less in high school (but Content Warning: did experience sexual harassment and worse... It's something that I had repressed until recently...), but it was replaced my drama. Lots of drama. I made and lost so many friends. By the end of high school, I didn't feel like I could trust anyone anymore.

I was in band, which does provide a community, but even that was rife with drama for me. Even in the band community, I was a bit of an outcast. Even with those who tolerated me, I could tell I was left out of things and it hurt.

By the end of high school I had transformed from a friendly, chatty person to a distrusting, bitter person. It's sad. It's something I still haven't recovered from all of these years later. That friendly, chatty version of me is long gone. I can't help but remember all of the times people I thought were close friends called me "annoying", and thus I learned to tone myself down, so as not to be a burden on everyone. Now I don't even remember how to socialize, nor do I know what would be appropriate as to not annoy people. I now know that I am very possibly autistic to some degree and that might explain why I couldn't (and still can't) understand the proper amount of being chatty and giving people space. but regardless of the reason, this is an issue that I need to fix.

Oh my... I went off on a tangent there. Sorry.

(Nevertheless, believe it or not I did make friends in high school that are still my friends to this day. One of them has particularly always been there for me and it means a lot)

 

[wrenbow]

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