Favorite School Subjects: A Personal Reflection

Daily writing prompt

What was your favorite subject in school?

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Most readers know that I didn’t enjoy school after primary school growing up, but it was never because of a lack of attention from my teachers. Each of my educators was attentive and creative and loved to add interesting tidbits to their lessons.

Although I did well in all subjects, my favorite is a tie between Math and Science, specifically Algebra and Biology.

In high school, Algebra was the quietest classroom most days. This was less because everyone was eager to learn and more because most of the school disliked Mathematics. Our teacher, Mrs. P, knew this and prepared competitions or contests with prizes ahead of time. Once, she brought a case of animal-shaped erasers you could assemble or disassemble as you pleased. I would have burst out laughing at how many students snapped to attention if I wasn’t so eager on winning one myself.

Biology was a whole different animal. Not only did the teacher have every student’s attention, but there was no lack of participants. We discussed the evolution of wolves into dogs, how foxes were next to be domesticated, and how genes worked. I absolutely adored science class—until it came to dissecting rats, but not for the reason you may believe.

Dissecting rats was one of the highlights of my high school years. My groupmates, on the other hand, were another story. My group consisted mainly of girls with one guy. And he was eager to show off. Whereas the other group members wouldn’t so much as glance at our specimen, the guy, football player, and I were ready to get our hands dirty. Only he assumed I was as squeamish as girls fawning over him. I could only fetch the tools and anything else needed, stand back and watch. To this day, I regret not saying anything. But I’ve learned since then that if you want something, say something. Silence is not worth the later regret.