WEEK 215 - A HIGH SCHOOL WORTHY OF CELEBRATION

When I was in elementary school, was a student from a rural area, the son of farmers, I didn't have much contact with other people, just the people at school, the famous caipira. Had little socialization, but he was number one at school. Knowing about my academic performance, some teachers signed me up to take an assessment test to compete for a place in high school at a Federal University of Paraíba with a concomitant course in agriculture. They convinced my parents and I went to take this test, to everyone's surprise, I passed.

There were countless unforeseen events, that's not the point, the important went to live at the University, even in the face of adversity, and finish high school. The place was a paradise, everything a student wanted, but didn't have access to. My initial luck was that I was one of the best students there, I made friends with one of the seniors and was left out of the hazing of the new students. I lived in the University's accommodation along with around 500 students, men and women, I studied in the morning and afternoon during the week and had the weekend free to enjoy extracurricular activities: swimming pool and swimming lessons, it was my first contact with a swimming, at the time I felt like I was in paradise; computer room, I only heard about it on television, now I had access to the internet and computers, it was amazing. "A new reality"

I ended up joining the football and capoeira team, I loved sports, I don't know if it was my life in the countryside, but I had a lot of resistance to play in sporting activities, people fought for me to play on their team, I was happy with my new reality. I learned to solve my own problems, I didn't have a father or mother by my side, something I consider important. I'm not complaining about having parents, but overprotection can kill a lot of young people's personal development. I visited my parents every 15 or 25 days and could only contact them on the weekends, there was a pay phone on site for all the students, I didn't have money for several phone cards. The were quick calls to alleviate some of the homesickness.

Living a new reality is difficult, no matter how simple your life is, it is your comfort zone. I thought about giving up countless times, the University only provided food, initially I did everything alone, but as time passed and through interactions with others, I improved my coexistence and situation. Another point besides missing home was worry, my parents had to work hard, anyone who lives in the countryside knows how difficult, daily and stressful it is. My mother didn't let me give up, she dreamed of a new reality for her son and today, I can say that she got what she wanted so much.

My high school it was the dating period, man, after being with the first girl, I got a taste for dating, I had 6 girlfriends in those 3 and a half years and I was with several girls between the dating periods. I visited practically all the cities in Paraíba, I started dating and ended up visiting the girlfriends city, it was amazing, I got to see places that are still in my mind to this day. Something I think about today, I've never taken anyone to visit the city where I live.

After 2 years at the site, I was literally another person, my initial characteristics were modified, we can say that my personal skills were improved, even with so many situations, I never stopped being number 1 in the room, upon completing the course I gained a certified as the best student in the class, a diploma without academic significance but full of self-satisfaction.

A cool time during this period was when I joined extracurricular music classes, I ended up improving my percussion, I was one of the students selected by the University to join a temporary Rock band during this period, I spent 3 months and abandoned it, excess charges ended up pushing me away. I mastered the drums, I'm not as practical as I used to be, but I still take the risk of creating a cool sound with my friends.

My second contact with music and musical instruments was due to a relationship, during one of our dates, my girlfrien played the guitar and decided to teach me, I learned the basics and even played 2 songs for her: Sem radar by LS Jack and Cheia de manias by the pagode group Raça Negra. The relationship ended and the excitement with the guitar ended too, I believe I don't know how to play anymore, I haven't picked up a guitar for about 17 years.

The Agriculture course was incredible, I learned a lot about animal life and the cultivation of plants and vegetables, I used this learning for a while to earn some extra income, but I ended up dedicating myself to the exact areas and today I am the one guides and passes on knowledge for others.

It's a shame we don't have photos from that period, but a cell phone was a luxury that no one imagined would exist in the future and a camera was an absurdly expensive item. I am using current photos in reference to that period.

All the content, pics and editions are of my authorship.