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.)…
