Back in High School, Oh did I Ever!

This is my contribution to the Never Have I Ever Challenge started by @kingofreview . I first came across the challenge when I saw a post by @BCH_LOVER and thought I would contribute. So here goes...

My high school years were wild and carefree and fun, though I must confess that I didn't recognize that at the time. I have had many experiences, both good and bad, which have certainly contributed to shaping me into who I am today, and if I am to be 100% truthful, I am grateful for each and every one of them.

Never have I ever skipped class.

Well... actually I did. 

While I loved breaktime games in elementary school, when I got to high school I hated Phys. Ed (PE), and that was because in high school, it wasn't just races and hoola hoops and unstructured games tempered by snacks in the canteen anymore. In high school, we had to have structure and everything was rigid, and we had to work out until our muscles ached, and I hated it.

In gym classes, I could not contort my body into all the twists and turns we were expected to take, I kept tumbling off the balance beam, my hands blistered terribly when we were asked to do rope climbing, I could hardly get my feet off the ground to do flips, gravity clung to my feet like quicksand when I tried to do hand stands, and I wanted to faint if we had to run outside for anything more than five minutes.

I was hardly the best motivation to my peers either. And so, when our first PE teacher retired, I decided that I wasn't going to attend PE classes anymore, and I think the new teacher probably thought we were all best served that way, because she never made a fuss about my absence.

I still hate workouts, by the way. I abhor gyms though I do love a brisk walk by myself with headsets on.

Never have I ever been suspended from school.

Gosh, I'm terribly embarrassed about this one. I was.

In secondary school, I was suspended for smoking a cigarette in the girls' bathroom. Terribly unladylike, right? I know. And as you may have guessed, this is not my favorite memory, so I'm gonna gloss over much of the details, but suffice to say I was young and angry and misguided, and this was not the most shining moment of my life.

If it counts for anything, I could hardly inhale more than a puff of smoke before I nearly choked to death. In fact, I practically told on myself. I made such a commotion coughing and spluttering, I couldn't help being caught. This, added to the fact that I honestly thought it was a good idea to hide and smoke a cigarette in an enclosed space like the girls' bathroom. Anyways...

Suffice to say, the administrators of my school were furious and I was suspended together with the girl who gave me the cigarette. And to this day, I am allergic to the very smell of cigarette smoke. That's the abridged version of a very long and painful story, but ultimately, I guess something good came of the experience, right?

Never have I ever been in the bottom three in class

Well, I mean, I most definitely was. I was right there at the very bottom of the class in fact, particularly after I was suspended. But then I felt like I had something to prove to my teachers and peers and I studied really hard, stayed up late on evenings for extra studies, and I truly applied myself to my work. My hard work paid off in the end and I graduated and I received an award for the best in my class in English, History, and as the most improved student. I graduated with extremely high grades too.

Never have I ever cheated on an exam.

No, I didn't ever cheat. Yeah, I got in a lot of trouble during school so I think there was very little my teachers would believe I wouldn't do, but I never got in trouble for cheating. And it wasn't just because I wasn't caught. It was because I was more of the bold, in your face, rebellious type, and there's even a moral code among thieves, right? I felt like cheating on an exam was sneaky, and why cheat when you could simply fake sick and skip the exam altogether? I never cheated.

Never have I ever forged my parents' signature

Nope, there was never a need to.

Your Yesterdays Don't Define Your Tomorrows

Suffice to say, I have done many things during my younger years, a lot of which I am not proud of today. I have learned though that there is no shame in growth, and sometimes, it's important for young people to understand that, as they go through their teenage years trying to find themselves, feeling confused, and perhaps even making poor choices, they are not alone. Many of us have been there before them, we are here for them today, and if they take it one day at a time, they will be fine tomorrow. So there you have it.