Day 803. about the school psychologist.
Hey everyone,
First of all, I’m sorry I haven't posted anything here for ages. Today I have a story from my childhood to share - it's about how I didn't get admitted to school after a somewhat unfortunate appointment with a school psychologist at the age of 5. This post is dedicated to my mom.
When I was 5 years old, I announced to my parents that it was time for me to go to school. Most kids in Ukraine go to school at the age of 6.
For that reason, my parents said: “You're too young, stay at home for now”.
I replied something like, “I'm not too young - take me to school”.
My mom took me to the school not far from where we used to live. To be admitted, you need to have a appointment with a school psychologist first - to confirm your cognitive skills are OK. Most Ukrainian kids have no problems at that appointment. My one, however, did not go well at all.
After I had my appointment, the school psychologist approached my mom in the hallway where she told her - with a very upset look on her face - that unfortunately I was retarded. She also said that home schooling was the only option my mom could ever hope for.
What happened at that consultation?
The school psychologist lays out a set of pictures in front of me. The pictures show a sequence of events:
a little boy is left home alone
he starts playing with matches
a fire starts by accident
the house burns down.
The psychologist asks, “Alona, sweetheart, please tell me what is happening in these pictures?”
And I'm sitting there thinking: “FML. What the fuck is this? I don't get it. She can't possibly be asking about the fire, this is fucking ridiculous, right? She can see the matches herself, right? This is just way too easy. What's the catch here?”
She asks me again, “Alona, darling, tell me what's going on in the pictures?” I think, “Are you fucking stupid or what's wrong with you?” - and so I stay quiet.
She asks again. And again. I sit there and don't say anything back. I’m like “Sis, I can’t be asked to answer stupid questions like that. I don’t want to tell you the obvious - you should be able to see it yourself. I’m scared that I won't get admitted to school because you are so fucking stupid…”
In the hallway, mom said to the psychologist, "Excuse me, are you stupid? She reads better than you at the age of 5” (for my age, I had extremely good "reading technique" - the number of words a child can read in a minute :D).
Later mom took me to a different school where I successfully passed the cognitive skills test.
I reminded her about this the other day and she said:
- Well, at the end of the day… you really didn't get admitted into that school... 🤣
11 years later I somehow managed to graduate from school without the need for home schooling.
Just for the record - I don’t think home schooling is a bad thing per se - one of the smartest guys I met in my life was home schooled and he loved it.
Anyway - I managed somehow… 😹
Certificate of secondary education - Gold medal
In Ukraine, the gold medal “for high academic achievements” is awarded to pupils who “have achieved high academic success during their high school studies and have 10-12 grades in the subjects of the curriculum based on the results of semester and annual assessment, and state final certification.”
Source: Decree of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Certificate of secondary education - with honors
P.S. I sent this story to my mom. Her response:
”We went to a different school…”
Hi Alona! Hope you are well. It’s been a while I read your posts/stories. I really enjoy reading this one and I did laugh when you speak your mind as a child dealing with that psychologist 😂 Thanks for sharing :)