Back to School?

It's strange that I'm even considering it, but right now, as I sit here in my home office blogging away, I'm seriously thinking about going back to school. I'm sure my family will be thrilled to read this, considering my history in education is not as rosy as people might think.

You see, when I was little and just starting out in Grade Prep (kindergarten for my American friends), I was classed as a "gifted child". I don't like talking about it all that much, but what I do remember is that I was tested by some lady and the only question that stood out was one where I had to measure how long a line on a piece of paper was using a ruler.

According to the lady, most kids my age would have started measuring from the 1cm mark. I got it right as I measured from the 0cm mark. Not sure how that made me gifted, but then there was my ability to read and write. Really well.

So much so, I remember being paraded around to other classes (even up to the fifth and sixth grade) to demonstrate my abilities. I remember being able to fluently read fairy tales out loud to the students, complete with different voices for the characters. I was their golden child - and I must admit I kinda liked the attention.

By the time other kids had managed to master "See Spot Run", I was already on short novels. By the third grade, I was reading Asterix comics cover-to-cover - and believe me, they're not that easy to read, considering the depth of the writing (both in character and history).

I was also the first person in my class to receive my pen licence. I used to sit and write stories all the time. I'd also write scripts for plays, where I would cast myself as a detective, solve cases and rescue the pretty girl (my primary school crush) and defeat the evil villain.

Who were those evil villains? Well, whoever bullied me at the time. And believe me, there were a lot of them - all jealous of my "gifts", apparently - and I copped it hard, both verbally and physically. Honestly, I don't know how that "sticks and stones" bullshit can be true - if anything, the words hurt even more.

Needless to say, by the time I reached sixth grade I was already in a mess. It didn't help that my teacher at the time was also a Class-A bitch and picked on me - in front of my classmates, no less - forcing me on more than one occasion to run out of the classroom. I'd then be coaxed out of hiding by my principal and taken to the staff room where I'd be given a couple of Tim Tams and a glass of milk to cheer up. That still helps me today!

So after I graduated from primary school, my parents decided (on the advice of some stupid school counselor) that in order to avoid this crap in high school, they'd send me to a private school. As much as I love my parents, even they admitted in later years that sending me there was not such a great idea.

I was constantly in the firing line of almost everybody in my year level. It also didn't help that I had a tendency to retaliate, but finally it reached a point where it was affecting my mood so badly that I was taking it out on my parents - and when they couldn't get a positive response from the staff, I was moved to another school closer to the city.

And for a whole year, I couldn't have performed any better. I got to take up all the classes I wanted to do - English, Literature, Drama, Theatre Studies, Media - and then I got bored. I fell into the wrong crowd. I started ditching classes, rebelled against my parents, you know, the whole gammut that teenagers go through - and failed Year 12.

I tried going back and completing Year 12 the following year at another school, but that too failed miserably. I ended up dropping out at the end of Term 3, took my car home, packed some things and then moved into the city with some other friends before running off to Queensland for a working holiday. It was shortly after I came back that I got the call from Crown Casino. The rest, as they say, is history.

As I'm sure you've picked up by now, this is an abridged version of my educational history. There's certainly a lot more to this story, but I'm not worried about it anymore. You see, that was the problem. I focused too much on the past and didn't think about what it is I should be doing now in order to prepare for the future.

Rather than thinking about everyone else, I should be thinking about myself. Get the job done, get out of there, don't worry about what it is others are doing (or not doing). You are the master of your own destiny, Lando - stop being a pussy and get on with your life!

But again, I digress. It's now time for me to choose which path to take. Should I go the whole box-and-dice and enroll as a mature-age student in an actual university (thereby taking a step back from all the work I'm doing now) or should I complete an online course as a supplement to all the work? I personally like the latter option, but I do need to seek some advice from other people - your comments below will be greatly appreciated.

I can confirm one course I am enrolled in though - very soon (hopefully in the next month), I'll be taking a Level 1 AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language) course as part of my work with Deaf Poker Australia. It's something that I've been looking forward to for a long time and I know that it's going to help me in the future.

Who knows what will happen? All I can say is that I know that I'm now doing all I can to being the best I can be. And although I'm almost 30 years old, it doesn't matter to me that it's taken this long to get to this point. Just being able to know that I now have the freedom to choose without the pressure of great expectations (or the burden of bullying) on my shoulders is a wonderful thing.