School and Hell

When I went to school, I did not like it. They put me in a slow learners' class when I was seven. I did not get anywhere in that class.

No one cared about me, so I did not learn anything. I got into trouble all the time, and they strapped me so I did not care what happened.

All they showed me was how to make Rosary beads. I learned that well. I did not get to read or write.

They put me in the hall, and the other teachers said, "There she is in the hall again." I told them I was having a break.

I felt like no one cared about me. So I did not get a chance to be what I wanted to be.

They can go to hell.

- Catherine

From The Story I Never Told edited by Guy Allen. Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy. Used by permission.