7th Grade Graduation
In May 1972 my 7th grade school year at The Valley School came to an end. I don’t remember learning much that year. I was floundering and falling further behind. I’m going to make a big assumption here because I don’t know if this is correct or not. But…I’m thinking that my parents had a conversation (or conversations) with my teachers at The Valley School.
The conversation was probably something like this: “Scott has really struggled here. We have tried our best to get him caught up with the others in his class, but he is way behind everyone else. We suggest you look into a school that specializes in learning deficiencies.”
I’m not sure when my parents broke the news to me that I would be going to a boarding school that could deal with my issues, but I’m guessing it was probably not too long after the school year ended in 1972.
The Next Five Years
For the next five years, I would end up going to two different boarding schools that were supposed to address my learning difficulties. So basically from the ages of 13-18, I would be away from the family home and environment from September through the end of May of the following year. Of course, I’d come home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.
What about God, Religion?
I had one Jewish friend at the time and all my other friends were Gentiles. Since I didn’t have a Bar Mitzvah I almost didn’t feel Jewish anymore. The whole Jesus thing of coming back to life and all that was a “Fairy tale” to me. I seemed to run into people that were all part of this”God is
Dead” movement. I was like, “God is dead? I don’t think God ever existed.” Of course, when asked, “What’s your religion, Scott?” My answer was always the same, “I’m Athiest.” Like I actually thought that was a religion back then. LOL. Truth be told, I didn’t want people to know that I was Jewish. I definitely didn’t want to identify as being Jewish.
I think I was half ashamed because of my Bar Mitzvah debacle and the constant confusion that kept my mind hostage of “Someone’s right, and someone’s wrong.” I didn’t want to go down either road and being an atheist made the most sense. “Hey, I don’t believe in any of it.” If I came across anyone that wanted to press the issue and talk about religion I excused myself from the conversation quickly. My mantra was, “I don’t believe any of it.”
Saints & Sinners
Going away to boarding school there weren’t too many Saints among the kids that were there. Most were sinners. I definitely identified as a sinner. Of course back then I didn’t look at it that way, but I gravitated toward the crowd that did nothing right in the eyes of God. I was rebellious as anyone and always seemed to find the wrong crowd. Besides, fitting in with the “goody two shoes” crowd didn’t seem too glamorous to me.
Conclusion
Boarding school was bittersweet for me. I’m sure it was pretty bitter in the beginning. Going from sleeping in my own bed, in my own room, in the house I grew up in, to a dormitory situation living with a bunch of kids that were on mind-altering drugs.
