Until recently, I did not know what I wanted from a school. I knew that it was not to sit in a dull classroom and regurgitate irrelevant information to receive an arbitrary number which somehow evaluated my competence as a person. I found no meaing in that. There had to be more. Now I know what I care about, but I could only realise what mattered to me when I lost it.
My education has been a tumultuous journey. I spent the first few years in a quaint Jewish nursery school situated in a quiet corner of Orange Grove. As far as nursery school experiences go, mine was relatively timid. I made my friends, sang my songs, and drew my pictures. The most eventful thing that happened in my years there was when I left.
While the rest of my classmates
…show more content…
It shaped me and formed my opinions. The word 'Jewish ' became a distant concept for me. I have never found a spiritual connection, but I could no longer find any semblance of the cultural world which I had left behind. The word was removed from my identity, no more than a meaningless label given to me by my …show more content…
I grew up in a sea of difference, but when I came to King David, I found myself drowning. I was astonished to be surrounded by people united by a common flag, by a common religion, and by a common community. I was shocked by the oneness of my new peers. I was at my most comfortable when surrounded by difference, but when I was the only one who was different, it made me uneasy.
Now, I am an outsider. An alien peering in on a distant world which once was mine. I am excluded. Not socially, I have a comfortable circle of friends. I exclude myself. I do not fit into the mold I am given. I have no school pride. I have no desire to enclose myself in the Jewish community. I look at religion with a feeling of sick apprehension. I am an outlier.
Acceptance is a skill, and I haven 't practised it in a while. I fear I have lost my acceptance of diversity, but I am too afraid to check, in case I am right. Over the years, my social dynamics have shifted. In a crowd, I search for a friendly face. I dread being left alone with strangers. I have developed a sense of safety in my community, but that is what scares