A Story by Vanessa
After being home schooled for 2 years it was decided we had to go back to regular school to write the common entrance exam for secondary school. It was a tough transition. The kids were miles ahead in mathematics, my weakest subject, and we knew nothing of Caribbean social studies. Exams in the Caribbean were accumulative, questions would come up on material learned the year before, sometimes many years previous! Everyone kept their old notes knowing they would need them (and yes, I still have some of mine, you never know!).
At home we had been put in the same grade, so Rachie and I entered junior 5 together. I was thankful we had each other, because even though it was a small island we only knew a few people in our class beforehand.
Junior 5 was probably the most stressful time in my life. Everything was hard, nothing was fun. Our teacher was serious about getting as many of us to pass to secondary school as possible. Therefore a no-playing-on-breaks rule was put in place. Too many of us came running in to class after break time or lunch sweating and panting from playing. My days of childhood games were over. So many of us failed in math that another rule was put in place: anyone who failed math would get licks! I was terrified. Probably the only reason I squeezed out 50%! It was horrifying watching my fellow class mates hold out their hands for their share when they failed. I hate to admit that such a scare tactic worked on me, but it did.
There was no sigh of relief after school either. After school was for lessons. Many students had extra lessons after school, and we were no different. I kept telling myself when the common entrance was written this would all be over, but I was wrong; after-school lessons would become a norm in my life, and I would not be alone. There was an American living behind the pizzeria and my mother hired him to be our math tutor in exchange for pizza (or so I believed). If it wasn’t for him my palms would still be stinging from that tamarind switch!
The noise in the school was horrible. It was hard to hear or concentrate when other classes were chanting sums or being noisy, as the walls did not hit the roof and we were between 2 other classes. When it rained on the galvanized roof nothing could be heard either. So notes were written on the blackboard and everyone had to copy them down lightning quick before they were erased and more put up. Many afternoons were spent writing notes either read aloud or written on the board. None of this hand-out ting kids have today! Hand cramps! Lord! You learned to have many pencils sharpened and ready to switch when you wore them down. Because Miss only repeated herself twice, and only paused briefly between paragraphs. You did not want to be left behind, because notes were checked over, and if they were messy or incomplete is licks! Or so I thought.
The only thing I loved from that year was going to the pizzeria for lunch. I was coming to the end of my ‘I hate pizza’ phase, but still preferred staff lunch. Every day a hot meal was prepared for the staff who worked through lunch. Chicken pelau, stew chicken and macaroni pie, pig foot souse, I was in heaven! Even customers would look at my plate and ask for some! On Fridays we were allowed to bring 2 friends, and a pizza would be ready for us when we arrived. We always had to run back to school on Fridays, because lunch was so much fun! So much for not being hot and sweaty after lunch!