Wonderful Life in Second Grade

          Do you remember way back in second grade how the teacher was the most powerful person ever? Do you remember how everyone in the class always did everything the teacher said, even if it made no sense at all in your little brain? Do you remember how if you were disobedient, you got a red ticket, and to be punished with a red ticket was a shame?
   
          In second grade, I remember being the quiet little angel of my class, the one who never spoke, the one who never got in trouble. I was always the one that the teacher used as an example of how to behave. The teacher would say, "Now Billy, stop pulling Sally's hair and sit in your seat like this little angel is over here." In second grade, I always had perfect behavior because I feared the red ticket.

        If a student got a red ticket, it meant guilt, remorse, regret. It meant everyone despised that kid until the kid could find a way to redeem themselves. One red ticket was a warning. If a kid got two red tickets, they had to stay in from recess and do worksheets. If they were to get three red tickets, they had to get a parent's signature. If a kid finally were punished with four red tickets (which rarely happened), it meant that child's parents had to meet with the teacher. Red tickets were humiliation. That is primarily why I never got them.

        If I could go back to second grade, I would not act like a perfect little angel. I wouldn't worry all the time about being tardy to school, because who actually cares if I got the perfect attendance award at the end of the school year? I would hardly ever come in on time from recess, because one ticket was only a warning. I would hide treats and snacks in the inside of my desk (which would make me more friends, also), and the teacher would never know. I would wear flip flops to school even though kids weren't supposed to, because the office didn't even have spare pairs of shoes for students to wear if the disobeyed the flip flop rule. If I could go back to second grade, I would make that year in elementary school a lot more fun than it was.

          Although I would disobey more of the seemingly pointless rules my teacher gave our class in second grade, I would also try harder and be better at certain things in school. The first thing that I can think of right away, is that I would be more outgoing than I was. In second grade, I had a lot of enemies. As I think back to my social life back then, people probably didn't like me because I was what you could call a teacher's pet. If I didn't act so goody-goody in my childhood years, I might've had more friends, and less enemies. I would have tried as hard as I could to change my shy personality to a fun, outgoing little kid.

       The second thing I would change if I could go back to second grade would be to try harder in school. I was already a pretty smart little kid, but as everyone does, I had and still have my weaknesses. One example of this is that I have always been a procrastinator for big, long term projects. In second grade, I would have broken this habit early and saved myself a huge hassle in the long run.

        As I think back to second grade, I remember it being pretty boring. If I knew then what I do now about life (the good and the bad), my experience as a little kid could have been very different from what it was. I would have been less strict with myself when it came to rules and obeying them. I also would have been more outgoing and made more friends. Last of all, I would have broken bad habits back then to avoid them now that I am older. I guess I did do some things right when I was little, because I'm pretty happy where I am now!