Member-only story
A Failure That Uncovered My Writing Talent
A personal story of a failure that led me to discover what I do best: writing, and a tribute to a great teacher.
I grew up smack in the middle of the Canadian prairies. I hated school. The walls in the Grade 11 classroom seemed to close in on me when I entered. There were no bars on the windows, but this part of my school was a prison to me. A big “F” hung in the air — invisible to the other students but looming large in front of me. A failure that sentenced me to spending an extra year in high school. I had failed Grade 11 and had to repeat it.
The year before, I wanted to escape from this ugly red brick building and pursue my dream of being a dancer, but no one was ready to give a nearly sixteen-year-old a job that could pay for dance classes. My parents told me that they would cover my living expenses and training at a well-renowned ballet school if I finished my Grade 12. So I was stuck in this place of boring teachers and students who liked to tease and bully me.
The Grade 11 course that year was a general rather than the university entrance course I usually took with a very different group of inmates that were a year younger than I was. I wasn’t interested in getting to know them — I just wanted school to be over with as soon as possible.
