From the dusty archives of primary school in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I remember everyone’s names (click on the picture to see the Flickr notes), except one I’m not 100% sure about.
That’s my brother, Allan, in the back row. He was in Grade 6. 13 kids, two grades, one class. It was a tiny school, maybe 100 people from kindergarten to Grade 10.
I was the easily the homeliest and smallest kid in the class, between the girls AND boys! And that didn’t improve, either — I cringe at ALL my school photos. What salvaged my childhood was that I enjoyed learning, library books are free, and I started writing to pen pals (like Kim, who lived in California at the time). I was a mumbling introvert who would break into a cold sweat if there was even the tiniest prospect of being called upon in class to answer a question or read out loud. Talk about performance anxiety: clammy palms, fear of hyperventilating, drymouth… I was a WRECK!
In fact, the very first instance of public speaking that I can remember is when I gave a speech at my cousin’s wedding three years ago, and I was so nerve-wracked that I rehearsed it using a digital recorder and made flash cards. Thankfully it was well-received and gave me more confidence in front of a crowd. I’ve already had to stand up and articulate in front of a couple hundred strangers in Pennsylvania and Germany in the space of three months under the worst possible circumstances, so it can only get less awkward from here, right?
I came across this picture while going through a box of journals. I was going to post an entry from one of them to accompany a post I’d composed in my head earlier, but I worked late, ran errands, and now I’m too beat for anything more taxing than a quick scan and some quick words.
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