Some of the memorable days of my life were spent in my first high school. I've mentioned in my previous posts that I went to two high schools; first in the countryside where I spent my freshman until half of junior year and second in the city where I continued the rest of my junior year and senior year.
As I have shared in my post during Week 213, my family and I came to a decision to live in the countryside to start anew. Since I graduated top of class in elementary and got the highest score in the entrance exam, I was granted an academic scholarship in my first high school. Of course, in order to continuously enjoy the benefits of my scholarship, I had to maintain my grades.
To be honest, I'm not really the studious type... but I do listen during lectures and I'm fond of writing concise notes while in class. During the exam period, I tend to cram and just go through the notes I previously made. I didn't own a lot of textbooks. I mostly just buy workbooks as they're often mandatory. One reason, of course, was that I couldn't really afford it... and another was that, it would just be a waste since I won't read it anyway. In addition, most of our teachers used several reference materials for class, so getting a textbook would be a waste. (at least for me)
The building over there was my first high school . I took this photo the last time I visited the area for our class reunion.
Even though, I didn't really like studying, I still got the best grades in our batch. Since I was top of the class, many people expected me to be a model student or a role model as well. I feel sorry for them. hahaha
Unfortunately, I wasn't a model student nor a goody-two-shoes that often becomes the teacher's pet. I didn't like that. I remember this one incident with my English teacher during my sophomore year. When we were first years, our batch was divided into two sections. She was the adviser for the other class, but when we became second years, we were all put into one class with around 50 students.
That teacher loved her previous advisory class, and didn't really like us for some reason. Maybe because of some competition in our freshmen years? I don't know. She would sometimes comment that her previous advisory has become negatively influenced by us. xD
One day, we were having a lecture... and I noticed that she made a mistake. After the class, I discreetly approached her and told her about it. She admitted that she made a mistake, but from then, she often say sarcastic stuff pertaining to me or our old section. Some of my friends from the same freshmen class didn't understand her childish ways. One day, I and some friends decided to boycott her class.
We were in the biology lab that time because we were trying to finish some projects after lunch. No one was scheduled to be there, so our biology teacher left the key with us. While working on our project, we were talking about that teacher and how she's acting towards us... we felt that we had enough and decided to cut class together and just spend time in the lab. We're also crazy because we all entered the room for our next class as she was about to go out.
Perhaps, she realized her ways... or she was worried about the teacher's evaluation from the students, she stopped targeting us.
With some friends during our reunion...
Aside from rebeling by cutting class, I and some female friends were also called to the guidance office. The nuns at our school were just very strict. The reason why we were reprimanded was because we wore our PE jogging pants under our skirt and played "takyan" in the basketball court. "Takyan" is similar to hacky sack, but we use a weighted shuttlecock to play. They said it wasn't a game for girls. xD I was also once called out for playing basketball with some of my male friends... said it doesn't look good for a girl to play with them. Like WTF? xD
I also made my best friend cry that one time. She's scared of worms and I saw this green worm on one of the leaves in the school garden and decided to prank her with it. She cried a lot and was obviously scared. We both laughed after she calmed down, though. She'd just prank me back.
Despite all these crazy stuff, I maintained really good grades. Other students admired me because I was approachable and fun unlike the other top students who were very serious and didn't really want to mingle because they're busy studying. (I personally admire those people since I can't be organized and study like them).
In that school, we also had some organizations aside from the students' council which were led by students. I didn't run for students' council because it's a hassle... however, the organizations' leaders were nominated and voted by the students. I didn't want to do it, and obviously, the nuns didn't want me or anyone from my circle to lead the other students. However, I ended up becoming that organization's president. I can just see how disappointed our principal that time was. xD
I know when to become serious, though... especially when given such a task. Even though I didn't want to, I just have to do my best. This thing happened during my junior year. The student our principal wanted to be the president became my vice president. She was a senior and a friend. She's my classmate's sister, so we know each other quite well.
I had to transfer in the middle of my junior year, so I had to pass the presidency to her. I bet our principal was really happy about it. hahah I kept my transfer a secret from most of my classmates. Only my closest friends knew about it. When I went to that school to get some documents, a lot of my friends from different year levels greeted me and some of them even cried.
I remember one of my classmates hugged me and said she didn't want me to transfer because I was the only person who tried to genuinely understand and accept her (she was another problem child... haha) and the others were jokingly saying, "We don't have anyone to copy notes and homework from anymore!". Crazy people!!! I love them, though...
They're some of the people I'll treasure forever. We might not talk as much, but we do keep in touch... and when we meet, it's as if were never separated. I met and spent time with some of them again in college, so it was a great thing.
My second high school...
When I transfered to this school, our principal was also a nun, but she was very chill. She introduced me to my new classmates as her niece and said they should treat me kindly. hahaha She was obviously joking, but some of my new classmates believed it for quite some time. lol
I didn't act as crazy as in my previous school, but I also had my fair share of bloopers in this school. In most high schools, there are often several groups formed in class... like the "famous ones", "the athletes", "the smarty ones", etc. As the transfer student who suddenly came in the middle of the year, it was quite a struggle... well, supposed to be. However, there's this incident when I and a group of friends (they were four) had to sneak in the TLE room after school hours to finish our projects.
I couldn't finish mine because I was new and I didn't know how to use the sewing machine well that time, so they told me about their sneaky plan and helped me out. Since then, I found myself hanging out with them. We mostly go to the library to read some books or just kill time, and sometimes stay in the guidance office to talk with Sister Rose (our awesome guidance counselor). We love her and her air conditioned office. <3
Then in our senior year, I found my best friend who is now a family to me. He was a returnee student. We got acquainted when we were paired to represent the school for a math competition. We discovered that we're both into games and anime and enjoy the same music. We just clicked!
Despite only knowing him for a few months in our final year in high school, we kept in touch and continued playing games together in college. My bond with my classmates and schoolmates in the new school wasn't as tight as the old school, but I surely formed special bonds in this school as well. I don't join their reunions, but I often spend time with my best friend, some of my really close friends and even Sister Rose. They've become a family to me. :)
Ahhh.. this post is quite long. I couldn't stop typing. haha I still have a lot of crazy stories from high school, but let's save that for next time. Thanks for reading! See you around! (^^,)/