Was a montage too much, WAS IT

Alice Cooper's words are ringing true, school is out completely. Tesco claimed these were the best days of my life but I think they just wanted me to buy another pencil case. But cruel scams aside, these have been the best years of my life...because they've been the only years of my life. So far I haven't done anything but be in school . Maybe I will look back from my armchair in the Home and decide that these really were the good days, but I highly doubt that.

I've been to 6 schools to date so I consider myself a connoisseur of classrooms. It's enabled me to become quite good at making new friends, by the time the 6th school rolled around I was paying kids accustomed to introducing myself, giving them a compliment and hoping they'd never find out how strange I am. They all did, eventually, but miraculously continued to speak to me. It's nice to have a wide circle of friends, to know that if something went horrendously wrong with one person (which it inevitably did) I would have others to fall back on, and in fact it was these times that I developed the best friendships. There are those I've been close to since Tag was a deadly sport and toilets were at ankle height. There are those I only met two years ago but have become great friends with. There are people I'm meeting just now, and wishing I'd known them longer. Either way, school has provided a social catalyst for us all to decide who we like and who to avoid. I've made a mental note to stay away from anyone with an oversized rucksack. They will talk to themselves and carry too many dictionaries.

Luckily I was blessed with more than one brain cell so I haven't struggled too much educationally, though sport defeated me. Fuck you dodge ball. Fuck. You. Teachers seem to like me, I can only remember a handful of times I've been shouted at (what a dick). I've done well in the subjects I've chosen, though some people see that as a horrendous crime.

With school came the chance to go places. I went to France (Disneyland, to perform, no biggie) Spain, Germany, New York. The German trip was possibly the greatest trip ever, and cemented a love for German history, films... and teachers (God bless you Mr Rawcliffe) that I still have. But still the highlights of these adventures come down to the people I was with, education is almost secondary to socialising, I can't help but feel for those who miss out on it. I'm a strong believer (not the knock on your door, bash you with a bible kind) in Nurture over Nature. It worries me to think that we might have stayed in Farnborough because we lived near chav central and I would be wearing McKenzie right now instead of Topshop. School has naturally sorted me out, personality wise. I'm still an annoying dickhead but I've learnt a fair bit too.

I don't feel like school is actually over. It's all been a bit of a let down really. There was no Scrubs style montage on a screen as I walked out, no high school musical jump. It's been 7 years, shouldn't I be able to squeeze a single tear?! I think reminiscing makes us miss things more, and right now I'm still very much in the now, in the 'good lord I haven't revised ecosystems yet why god why'. Ask me again in 3 weeks.

Perhaps it's because I've still got exams, but also because I'm convinced there's a secret year between now and university in which I will learn to cook and clean and hopefully knit. Making the leap from my current lifestyle to one in which I have to separate whites from colours unnerves me. Being told from people older than you that you'll look back fondly on school time, and not to waste it, and to treasure every moment, is bullshit. There are going to be days when you could happily watch the place burn. Eventually you'll conclude that it wasn't all bad but until then, don't do anything differently.

You might turn into one of those people who use yolo seriously.