Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm just watching this Yo Samdy Sam video and already noticing (in spite of her posh, private school education - privilege alert!) that many of the teachers' observations are almost exaclty the same as on my own. Almost eerily, in fact, although I went to a very rough comprehensive in the North East of England. My reports were, on the face of it, rather good, but there are some little asides which indicate constant high levels of anxiety combined with my supposed "giftedness" (I was actually terrified into appearing "gifted", I now think). When I look back, I'm getting more of a feeling of, "My goodness - what did they do to me?" Very interesting, I think, And I'll probably reflect some more on this as I watch the rest. My "giftedness" didn't exactly carry over into most of the workplaces I got myself trapped in and I then experienced decades of anxiety and fairly poor mental health. So... and if you care to share, how was it for you? www.youtube.com/watch
Gosh! It's so long ago that I think I would need to retrieve my reports (if I still have them) to refresh my memory. However, I seem to recall that I was often described as quiet and shy. As I progressed through secondary school, I think many of my subject teachers felt there was room for improvement and that I needed to apply myself more. The exception was English, although I certainly wasn't what I would describe as "gifted" in that subject.
I struggled when it came to choosing my GCSE options, I very much felt like it was a case of choosing the best from a bad bunch. From my perspective, the focus appeared to be very much on being academically gifted or proficient at sports, and that just wasn't me at all.
Oh Sparkly, this is once again so familiar to me. And the focus should have been on educating you as a whole person, not trying to force you into their preconceived ideas of what was right for you. I wish it could have been better for you and more individually tailored.
If something like GCSE cross-stitch had been an option, or perhaps GCSE cake decorating / sugarcraft (as opposed to Home Economics), I am quite sure I would have found my school days far more enjoyable.