Kids of all ages are going back to school. The start of the school year signifies the beginning of new classes with different teachers, meeting new friends, and facing fresh challenges.
As a kid, I was always highly apprehensive at the start of the school year. I felt stressed and unprepared for all of the changes. To make matters worse, I was not a good student because I found the classroom environment overwhelming.
I felt constant pressure. I hated the thought of being scrutinized by others. Taking tests and being judged by the teacher and my classmates was terrifying! I still get chills when I think about it. As a highly sensitive person, I felt extremely self-conscious and anxious.
I would always tell my mother that I hated school and didn’t want to go. This continued throughout my school years. She would tell me that these years would be the best time of my life. I thought to myself that if these were my best years, then I dreaded to think about the worst!
I never saw the benefit of taking classes that I had no interest nor aptitude for. I especially disliked math and science and found a lot of the lectures boring. On many occasions, my parents were told that I daydreamed in class. This was my highly sensitive coping mechanism for dealing with uninteresting topics as well as the stressful classroom environment.
While it’s been many years since I’ve been out of “school”, I’m glad to say that I have a much better attitude towards learning. To quote Mark Twain, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” In the past forty years, I’ve had a thirst for knowledge that I never had in my youth.
My attitude changed because I always felt “different” and longed to understand why. I had a burning desire to learn as much as I could about myself. Thus, I started reading books, going to lectures, and listening to self-help information.
I’ve come to realize that the more I learn and understand myself, the more self-confident I feel and the easier it is to determine what I want. By combining my love for self-help information and my need to learn more about my high sensitivity, I have come to discover my life’s calling.
My purpose and my passion is to provide fellow HSPs with information that will help them understand themselves better through my writing.
What would you like to learn today? Perhaps you want to read a book about a subject that fascinates you. Maybe you want to attend a class or increase your self-awareness by learning more about your highly sensitive nature. Whatever you decide, do it today, and don’t let excuses get in your way. No matter what age you are, learning is one of the most personally rewarding things you can do for yourself. I’m interested in any thoughts or comments that you have.
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Back to school was always a mix of emotions. I was excited to see my friends again but so nervous for the new year, new teacher, new classroom… so much anxiety would build up and usually burst into a very fearful and tearful meltdown by the night before and/or morning of. Once I got past the first day I was usually ok again. Still some nerves would linger until that classroom/teacher/classmates became my norm and comfort zone but… I still struggle with that today. As long as I’m in the same school it’s manageable but… when I change schools it’s the same. It’s embarrassing as an adult but it is also helpful to be able to know what’s going on and understand that this is just a part of me and there is nothing “wrong” with me because I struggle with this, in fact, it is this exact piece of me that helps me to be able to see so many things (insights) that most people don’t. I can put into words other people’s feelings sometimes that they themselves can’t and I can connect the why’s to the feelings which helps to calm others from time to time. I don’t enjoy my struggles but I’m glad the Lord allows me to use it for good from time to time.
Hi Hayli,
Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s true that there is nothing wrong with us. We don’t have to change. The more we learn about ourselves, the better and more happier we will be. Keep learning and growing!