I did mostly okay in school. In grade ten i was on the honor roll. That was my best year. My brother had disappeared that year and i knew something bad had happened to him so i numbed out that year and tried to be perfect to stop it from happening. I also tried hard in competitive gymnastics and had anorexia that year.

My last year of high school i quit gymnastics and got into partying and almost blew my chances of getting into university, my marks that year were so bad. That's the only year the universities look at. Luckily we have a terrific university with an open-door policy in a city i was attracted to and i was accepted there.

I got a university degree (just a bachelor of arts) by the skin of my teeth. My last year i partied too hard and then had an acute anxiety reaction when exams rolled around and it hit me how unprepared i was (and there was some family nonsense too). I had to defer an exam til August, so i did not graduate with my class, but i did graduate.

I wish i'd tried harder in high school, especially chemistry. I'm good at memorizing and i'm sure i would have done well. School is such a superb opportunity and i don't really feel i took advantage of it. I guess i was coping with too much family nonsense and beginning to struggle with mental illness.