Today my BIG clear out has involved looking at my old school reports. And here are some exerpts:
'Does not always exert herself' Well, can't be blamed there. It was maths after all!
'Absent too often' Well now, I think that was when I discovered the delights of Lisburn town centre!
'Miriam would do even better if she stopped day-dreaming' Wonder what that
'Always willing to participate in class discussions' This was RE the year I became a Christian at 17. I was probably trying to convert anything that moved! Sorry!
All of this made me smile. I loved school, though was always the 'could do better' type. There's a fair bit about that in the reports! But as I was reading I realised that those writing about me, though well-intentioned, had no idea what this lazy(?), sometimes absent, so-called daydreamer of a girl was really like - what her life was like. And that she was probably doing the very best she could in the circumstances.
I thank God for the haven that school was for me - and that he grabbed hold of me in time and turned me into the words of one of my last reports - 'Miriam is a very pleasant and conscientious pupil who deserves to succeed'
How did that happen?!
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