High school sojourn

It took me six years to finish high school. I graduated at age 20. I started and finished at Riverdale Collegiate in Toronto, but in between bounced around three other schools. However, I often tell people that I went to five schools. This is because the second sojourn at Riverdale was, for all intents and purposes, a different school. Riverdale was completely torn down, with the exception of its façade, and rebuilt anew during my absence. (It stayed open and functional during that time.)

I originally left Riverdale on my own volition. I would be subsequently expelled from the next school. When I tried to go back to Riverdale my ex-VP was aware of my expulsion. When I was in his office applying to get back in, he told me, “The day you get back into this school is the day I quit!” He then threw my transcripts on the floor.

I was rejected by all the high schools I applied to in the following year, including at Monarch Park Collegiate – a school that enrolled 30-year-old “mature” students. (Ironically, the professor at the University of Toronto who encouraged me to pursue a PhD was a student at Monarch Park.) I was eventually accepted at Eastern High School of Commerce – which was known for having a large share of delinquent students. After finishing the year at Eastern, I transferred to Jarvis Collegiate.

In the beginning of what would be my last year at high school, I learned that my old VP was on sick leave for the academic year due to cancer. My erstwhile grade nine gym teacher had become the acting VP in his stead. He allowed me back in.

It was nice to be in familiar territory for my final year of high school. But I felt like a stranger in the new school, especially as my grade-nine cohort was no longer there. I learned in life that one cannot leave and return expecting not to miss a beat – the world does not pause in your absence.