It has been said that the most valuable lessons in school are learned in Kindergarten (pre-school).
"Life's Most Precious Lessons Begin in Kindergarten:
Share, Be Kind, Listen, Play Fair, and Always Try Your Best!"
I think that those are probably the most valuable Positive lessons that are learned in school.
There are also some very important lessons that are Much Harder lessons that I learned in school. Those lessons came from my Physical Education (PE) classes.
Now if you asked me in High School what was the most useless class I would have instantly replied "P.E."
I was totally focused on learning and getting good grades. I like to think I did well at getting good grades and have the medals to prove it. The school would tell students that PE encourages teamwork, dedication, and that the exercise helped with mental alertness and overall fitness.
Looking back on it the teachers weren't lying.
- Teamwork is so important in life and is best taught in sports.
- Succeeding in a sport requires hard work and dedication. More important skills than anything taught in a lecture!
- Physical exercise is so important to the functioning of the body, including the brain! No-one should neglect it!
However, I never learned those lessons in my PE class. The lessons I learned were considerably less pleasant but equally valuable (in my opinion at least).
Lessons Learned from PE Classes
Lesson ONE -- Square Dancing
Can you think of anything more awkward than to take teenage boys and force them to dance with girls in PE? That's what I had to do in Grade 8 (when the girls are bigger than the guys). Now square dancing is where you change partners, swing around and generally listen to the "caller" who says the move.
All is fine. Usually. Unless a particularly large girls spins a particularly small guy and ends up sending him flying across the floor.
That is not a memory I'll forget anytime soon .... and I still hate the song "Tiny Bubbles" to this day.
IMPORTANT LESSON
Women are scary--- Handle with caution. Then again, they can also be awesome, your results may vary 😊
Lesson TWO -- Downhill Skiing
Downhill skiing is fun.
....A lot of fun! Sure its a little scary going down the side of a snowy mountain. However, after a junior high skiing expedition to Fox mountain everyone came back with lots of stories and lots of smiles.
Well...Almost all the students.
6 out of 30 people didn't get to go on the skiing trip. It was expensive for the ski pass, ski equipment rentals and so on. Six people in my class couldn't afford the outing. We got to go snow-shoeing in the local park. Going down a mountain is fun. Walking around the park in the cold with big, ugly, weird shoes isn't.
I remember everyone else laughing and having stories while I had cold feet....
....I also remember feeling very left out because how could I relate to their fun stories when I didn't get to go?
IMPORTANT LESSON
Being Broke Sucks but Being left out because of being broke sucks even more!
Lesson TWO (Part 2) -- Rugby
Rugby is a type of football where it helps to be big, strong, and fast.
I wasn't big or strong.
What memory do I have of Rugby? Well, my teacher Mr. Pells wanted to show the class about how to do a scrum. Basically two people stand in front of the ball and try to push the other person out of the way so they can get the ball.
I remember vividly being called along with Sean O'Malley. He was the head of the Rugby team and I was the guy with the top marks in academic subjects. My teacher didn't really make it a fair fight. The fact that he was probably 50kg (110lb) heavier than me. The fact he had cleats (shoes with spikes) and that the grass was wet. Well, lets just say he pushed me halfway across the field.
Humiliating is a word that comes to mind. I also remember the teacher mentioning coming to school with cleats (which we couldn't afford).
IMPORTANT LESSON
Being Broke Sucks but being humiliated by your teacher because of it sucks even more!
Lesson Three -- Softball
Softball if you don't know is very much like baseball just with a larger, softer ball. I use the term softer loosely because it still hurts a lot if you catch it with your bare hand!
In addition to being non-athletic and smaller than many classmates I was unfortunately clumsy as well. I was also particularly bad at throwing balls. Half of the problem was just the way I was built and the other half was that I never had a brother or father to play catch with. I also moved around to many different towns when I was young so I never really had a chance to make good friends to play catch or do athletic stuff with.
All of those make for an awful time playing Softball. Why so bad?
Well, most of the times teams were picked by first taking two "Captains" who were athletic. They would then choose from the classmates one by one (alternating) until a team was formed. Unfortunately there were often a few "left over" students who didn't get picked. They got to pair up and throw a ball to each other while the other students got to play a game.
NO surprise I was often left out of the games
Other kids were learning valuable lessons about teamwork, comraderie and so on.
I learned a very different lesson:
IMPORTANT LESSON
Being Left Out Sucks especially when everyone else is having fun.
Not having a Father to learn from sucks especially when he was a star athlete in his time.
Now to be fair I did see my father once or twice a year. On one of those times I did get to play catch with him. That was an awesome memory....Mostly....
When I was 23 yrs old I got to talk about that day with my Dad. He also remembered it...although his words to me were I can't believe how bad you were at throwing a ball. Those words sucked almost worse than Softball in PE
Lesson Four -- Distance Running
Now distance running was actually something that I did enjoy. I didn't have to be picked for a team (where I wouldn't be picked). I didn't have to be co-ordinated or skilled. I just had to be determined and work hard. That I was good at. In fact I was one of the faster kids in my class being able to run 1.6km in 6 minutes (kept trying to 5 but never made it) and 5km in about 25min (it was a long time ago...not guaranteeing that number).
However, I learned a hard lesson from distance running as well. You see one day we went from running 1 miles (1.6km) to a longer distance of 2 miles (3.2km). I didn't know the route so I partnered with someone who DID know the route. It was great to have a running buddy! We were happily running together until we turned up one street and I noticed all my classmates didn't follow the same way. I realized we were going the wrong way. My running mate asked me to follow him but when going the wrong way I turned around to complete the race properly.
He was caught for cheating and put in detention
However he was popular and I wasn't. I was pretty much outcast. It was very lonely for that class for the rest of the year.
IMPORTANT LESSON
Doing the right thing can be a lonely path. I may have done the right thing and I didn't snitch but that didn't keep me from losing a friend.
There were so many other memories from PE class. I remember following the teachers instructions and pushing so hard. I remember asking for a break and being yelled at not to stop....then vomiting and getting yelled at even harder. I remember being tackled in soccer by a larger boy and falling on gravel followed by a lot of bleeding...and getting yelled at by my PE teacher. The list would just go on and on.
Overall PE was AWFUL
But I wouldn't trade the lessons for anything.
What skills I developed from those lessons:
- 1-- I've developed a healthy respect for women. Only a fool would think they are incapable. They may throw you sometimes and it may be embarassing but still...worth the effort.
- 2-- Being broke still sucks but nothing like being broke to teach the value of money, saving, and investing.
- 3-- Being broke really sucks but nothing like being broke to teach humility and the understanding that even if someone doesn't have money they still have value. I know, I've been there.
- 4-- Being left out sucks but nothing like being left out to teach someone to be independent! The team never chose me but I learned to be self reliant because of it. I enjoy being part of a team and know its value but can happily function without one.
- 5-- Not having a father around sucked. It really sucked. I learned a valuable lesson though....to always be there for my kids. I may not be a good father but I'll certainly do my best and be an available father!
- 6-- Doing what is right has a cost! Teachers may say that things always work out if you do what is right. Not True. I may lose by following the rules as I've learned well. However I'm not letting someone else lead me down the wrong path! Sometimes I just have to follow my own path, regardless of the cost.
Bonus Marks
After doing my final proofread I thought I would add just a little bit more.
High School PE wasn't great.
After High School was University and I can guarantee I wasn't nearly good enough for University level sports!
However at UBC (University of British Columbia where I got my Pharmacy degree) there were also "fun" leagues. I ended up on a :
Lesson Five : Ball Hockey
There were 3 levels of University teams.
- A level -- Professional / Semi-Professional
- B level -- Good athletes but not professional
- C level -- People who wanted to have fun.
I was on a "C" level ball hockey team. Sort Of
There were two French Canadian students who loved ball hockey. However, their English skills were poor and they didn't read the sign until almost too late to make a team. They had to make their own team because all the other teams were full.
They were desperate to find anybody to fill their spots. They were good players but the rest of the team not really.
We had Solomon... a Kenyan Distance runner. Very big, very athletic, but had not idea how to play hockey. He just outran everyone and intimidated everyone.
We had Chris... a very athletic soccer player from China. Again, kept forgetting you play hockey with a stick and kept kicking the ball (not legal).
We had a guy from Singapore (its been 30 years I've forgotten his name). He was ex-military. In great shape but kept using the stick as a weapon. He was as likely to chop the ball, or other peoples feet, than he was to move the puck toward the net.
... and me. A terrible athlete at best.
In our 8 game season we were without a doubt the worst team.
BUT we actually won a Single Game.
HOW? it was a morning game against the Pharmacy team. Now the Pharmacy team was actually not that great either. It also seems there was a big pharmacy party where the pharmacy ball hockey team drank way too much and were very hung over in the morning.
Doesn't matter we weren't total losers. We actually beat a team!
IMPORTANT LESSON (Number 7)
Have Fun! ... Yes we were terrible. Yes we were unskilled. Yes we were mostly losers. BUT there was always a chance of a win AND I wouldn't trade those friendships for anything.