School skippers :: a culture of back then :: 22
A few years ago skipping school became a crime. Forbidden. Parents had to pay a fine or - if not possible - go to jail if their kids skipped school. I couldn´t believe it (but it was true!) and discussed it for months with a lot of people, who all thought i was kidding. ALL of them turned out to be former school-skippers, i talked to people from (now) age 35 to 75. Especially the older ones, even those who i thought were maybe fans of the new restrictions, had interesting stories to tell about their school-skipping time. And it made them smile recalling them !
Skipping School was culture. It was a part of youth, without school-skipping no youth, kind of that. Everyone did it, not only those who were creative and became artists later on. Pop culture is full of it. Has eddie vedder ever graduated from high school ? Or ANY of the huge musicians ? But even though it was normal, it still needed some courage. Only the most boring or fearful ones didn’t skip school. They skipped youth-culture instead.
Indeed I myself was among the leading school skippers, and when it comes to those who graduated from school I was probably number 1. „It doesn't matter HOW one studies the subjects" was the clear opinion of my favorite classmates (who didn't skip school because she liked the distraction there), an opinion she advertised successfully to the teachers. So I, the famous school skipper, graduated as one of the best of the whole class, showing up to the final exams relaxed and sun tanned. My classmate became an internationally operating marketing manager. She indeed was a natural talent !
When I went to university in the years 2017ff, I studied in my very own way as if there was no other option. Just the way I had done it before, it came naturally. I couldn't imagine not to study in my own way. But this time I liked the places, I liked the freedom, the hippie-minded profs who’d come by bicycle to their lectures, ignoring snow storms or rain. So I never skipped anything, on the contrary, I looked out for additional interesting lectures. It was exciting and inspiring, almost like rock concerts or even better. Boring lectures i´d leave after 3 minutes. If you know quality, you don’t waste time with trash. And there are lots of good lectures, you just have to find them. How different it was compared to previous times ! The most liberal people were the teachers now, those who - for sure - were the school skippers once. And they had to deal with students, coming straight from high-school, who were used to memorize and never ask any questions. What a cultural shift ! # then # now # in-between # culture/s # an ode to all school skippers of back then #
What did bob Marley sing when we were young ? „Don’t let them fool ya, or even try to school ya“ ::
a notebook i found (c) 23