changes

I went to a public primary school, and then, for high school, first two years I went to a private, all-boys, Catholic school, with the understanding that I would transfer to a co-ed Catholic school at the start of year 9. The new school I started at in year 9 was still being built in those first two years. When we all started, the school only consisted of years 7 to 9, then when my year group moved to year 10, it went from 7 to 10 and so on. So we were always the seniors. We were the pioneers. 

The move from primary school to high school was a huge culture shock for me. It was a very disciplined environment and I was used to a very free and easy environment. We had a uniform inspection every morning and if your shoes weren't clean and shiny enough you got the cane. There was 1 or 2 hours of homework every week night and if you even missed one sentence, you got the cane. I was used to not really having any homework. The first week we had PE and I don't think anyone knew that we were meant to bring a change of clothes, but because we didn't, pretty much the whole year group got the cane. 

It was a pretty intense time in a whole range of ways. On the one hand, I was suddenly in a much more grown up world, with responsibilities and standards I had to meet, but on the other hand, we year 7 students were referred to as the little kids because we were the youngest in the school. 

I think things eased up after a while, discipline-wise, and definitely, at the new school I started at in year 9, things were more easy going. It was like a different world again. Moving from primary to high school was like a different world and then moving from one school to another was likewise. And then the jump from year 10 to year 11 was once again a whole different world. That's a recurring pattern, actually: each new phase of life is like a different world.