My school days were mixed. The good ones were very much like Tom Brown’s. That was when I attended St Edward’s College, Malta, a school for boys in the Old ‘Rugby’ British public school sense. The school saved me from the atrocious schooling that was the modern British experience at the time (in the 1970′s). They taught me discipline (which I resisted then and still do now) and empowered me with the value and joy of learning, which I shall cherish always.
Sometimes one should give credit where credit is due. I would not enjoy the life which I live now if it were not for their incredible teaching staff. The school itself has a great setting, with bastions (a fortified wall built by the Knights of St John) on one side, and what was once a great stone football field at their foot. That and the fish taught me that life could be punishing ;-)
The old stone buildings, with their cool and quiet breezes (yes strictly quiet classes), peaceful study areas, and our focused little faces whether in class or the library, meant we were wide eyed and receptive to the immense world that was encapsulated within our books, and for me within the sciences.
They took a young lad who was both rebellious and cheeky, and under performing, and taught him ‘Virtus et Honor’. I left top of my class. I now wish my old teachers and their successors both good health and, for the latter, good students.
