1. What is your earliest memory of school?

Kindergarten. Mrs. O was VERY mean and had no business teaching children. She called me by a shortened version of my name (which NOBODY else used) for most of the year. I was a reserved child around adults and it took me until the spring to get up the courage to correct her. When I walked up to her and said, "Mrs. O, my name is [name]," she responded, "So?"

I slunk back to my seat without a word. On the upside, she did start calling me by my actual name after that.

And despite that being my earliest memory, I actually have liked school my whole life. Amazing.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?

Mrs. S taught the gifted class in 4th and 5th grade. She was awesome. She had an endearing nickname for each of the students, made learning fun and all that.

My high-school English teachers were outstanding. It's no wonder I went on to be an English major in college. Mrs. M was a child of the '60s who would have parties for us at her house. Mrs. P taught AP English, and I remember in my yearbook she wrote, "It's rare to teach someone who loves the class as much as I do." It's true though--there were stronger students in the class, but I think I was passionate about the stuff we read like nobody else. The following year she voluntarily moved to a neighboring school for at-risk kids, teenage moms, and so on. She was the best.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?

One difference is that Christian holidays were celebrated back then as a matter of course. No others. You're not going to get too much nostalgia from me on that. Christendom is over.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.

I learned Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, which led to this incident.

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?

Most embarrassing moment was second-grade PE when we did a crab-walk race and I was wearing a short dress.

As for trouble, we had a fourth-grade teacher who had some sort of surgery during the year, and when she came back the pain medication made her totally loopy. For a bunch of nine-year-olds it was funny, sad and scary all at the same time.

One time in that class I was passing notes with a friend, in which we were talking about a third friend*, one of Mrs. P's favorites. Mrs. P caught us and asked me to put the note on her desk, then continued teaching. As we went out to recess, my friend M convinced me to grab the note and throw it away. Later Mrs. P went looking for it and said, "Did you put that note on my desk?" I said, "Yes, I did." She dropped the subject.

*Fourth grade is tough for girls. I was "in" one week, "out" the next--it was cruel. The pack mentality, turning on other girls--I'm still ashamed to have been a part of that. I was never the ring leader, but that's no excuse. For my daughters' sake, let's hope that grace abounds. Because if it's a karma-governed universe--we're in trouble.