St.John’s it is. Matriculation to State board transition. As board exams are crucial, no schools have direct admissions to 10th standard. After some rush, I managed to get a seat in this Well established Institution. Before going forward let me give a brief introduction to my School (very much deserves it). It was founded in 1844 and the infrastructure is quite authentic with structures from last century. I am damn sure, I sat on the benches which were used by many generations of students. The overall experience inside the campus is slightly lenient and student friendly. A simple comparison, All the other institutions are mainly focused on their results and they start the 10th Board exam coaching from the mid of 9th standard including the days of summer holidays, Every weekend(sat&sun) and Public Holidays. Were as in My school, I had 2 months of Summer Holidays, never went to schools on weekend and had all the public holidays. Most importantly, every Thursday 7th and 8th period was for P.E.T which we never missed. That’s what I call as Thug Life. Not only me, even the Teachers were so cool that they handled every class like a BOSS. No drama and mess. Forgot to mention, it’s a Boys School.
So, for me, the school and syllabus were slightly easy. I was put into the A1 section(A sections have all the toppers, A1 for Average students, A2 – a mix of all of them) Being a below average student in the Old School, I started getting good marks in this syllabus. Which gave me a sudden boost in my own confidence. Getting 80% of marks in state board syllabus was quite easy. But Once you try to reach more, every hour you spend matters. With my newly gained confidence, I was trying to go harder. I made into the good books of my teachers and made some bad choices in choosing my friends which I realized very late. I was chosen as a Leader of the class and my friends were using me to invoke students they don’t like. When those students get caught up and punished by the teachers, they got really angry at me (I had a fight and got hit) Things happened. Here, Fights happen every day. Either to hit someone intentionally or to prove one’s mettle. There are two options, either don’t get involved in those fights else build some really good muscles. Anything in between will get you beaten up for sure.
Most of my classmates opted for tuition classes, I also enrolled in one – Alwyn Sir Tuition. It was very near to my school. I used to finish my school and reach home in next 20 mins cycle and refresh. Then take my Kinetic Honda to reach the Tuition Centre. where I spend the next 3 hours till 9PM before reaching back to home.
Honorable mentions: My cycle – Hercules Ultima 6 speed red color / Kinetic Honda -Black pearl color / Mushroom stall opposite to tuition/ Girls in tuition(shiny, she was funny) / fight with one Bulky leftie guy(forgot his name) / My Ash color cap / Plenty of Pocket Money/
10th Board exams went will and Results came out. To everyone’s surprise, I scored 92.4% in the exams. I still remember my Mom and Aunt’s reaction. They were terrified of my results. The previous year, I was a below average student and now this is where I stand. I was more than surprised. Everyone was happy. 11th standard admissions started & I wanted to continue in the same school. We went on to admission, I was in a notion to take Maths & Computer Science group as it would be easier for me and helpful for engineering. Upon meeting the AHM, he advised me to take Maths & Biology group so that I will have an option to be a Doctor as well. Also, I can take Computer Science class outside if necessary but I won’t have the opportunity to learn Biology anywhere else. It made sense and I chose as he advised.
Made new friends, plenty of friends(most of them were Muslims). They were very close to each other. I felt like one among them. All of their friend become my friends too. They respected each others emotions and way of thinking. I was happy with my effort to make friends. 11th standard was slightly enjoyable without any pressure. I made into the School Super Senior volleyball team and we won the Zonal and District tournaments but lost in the Divisional Semifinals
Honorable Mentions: My jersey number – 1 (I wanted no.7 but my team captain took that) / Zonal finals was on my Birthday and we won it / got Government Cycle – green colour / started wearing pants / Biology class by Stephen Azaria (damn good, I became his favourite by answering one question related to garlic) / Bharathi Che Guevara Sir – Physics teacher – Mindfulness class/
I was Entering into 12th standard with intense pressure, joined tuition class for Maths, Physics and Chemistry. It was a tight schedule. Myself and my friend Lakshmi(he is a guy) joined the Physics tuition in the first place. It is a early morning class from 6 AM-7.30 AM on alternate days. Worst experience, I barely concentrated on the classes. The only thing I remember was Nuclear Physics( chapter 8). Second, Chemistry classes. The tutor is Mangai Sir. Man, he is one of a kind in the entire world. He literally knows every line of the book by heart. He takes the class without any book or materials and ask us to underline the important line by referring them correctly. The highlight is, he also corrects the things in the book after proper verification with the paper correction team. His memory power is spellbound. It’s been 7 years since we met and I am very much sure he remember my full name and year I studied. And it’s not only for me but for all the other students he took class for. Such a Genius. He was the reason behind my confidence in Organic Chemistry And the last one was Maths Tuition, It’s kind of a dull one.
What I’m about to explain may not happen in any other schools but it happened here, we went for an Educational Tour for 8 days in my 12 standard. I am sure no other schools do this. And my parents were freaking by seeing the destination. It’s GOA! What kind of educational tour happens in Goa? 2 compartments in the train, 120 members, 7 staffs 3 Nights and 4 Days in Goa. We stayed in “Baroque cottage”, ate Pav bhaji for breakfast, visited 7+ beaches, ate pani puri in the rain near the shore, took plenty of photos, I had a Creative MP3 player, went on to Casino Royale(I had no idea about discos, danced like anything). The worst thing is, I had a toothache with severe pain and my face was swollen like Hanuman Ji.
Honorable Mentions: Counting the number of days remaining in school(Written in Diary, forgot where I kept) / Pandaram Sir’s – Maths class- His usual and famous dialogue / Farewell Day – plenty of Photos from Lakshmi’s Olympus camera(its waterproof) / Pressure filled Board Exams / Blackout in the Mathematics Exam / High Expectation in Home- Average Results – Very Angry/
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