You may realise it but every decision that we make shapes who we are as a person… it defines us! There are some key things that happened in my life as I was growing up that have shaped me as an individual, and rightly or wrongly made me into the person I am today. So tonight children…. we are going to delv into some of these decisions and work out where they led and consider the “what if”…
My Grandad was a very important figure in my life when I was a child… he was the corner stone of the family and much of the activities and important words of advice that I remember I got as a child came from him. He was the figure who informed my dad how he could be a better father… and taught me that countdown can be fun.. at the age of about 9 I could understand the racing form and regularly participated in long discussions that were pretty intellectual… My grandad is one of the key people in my life I can look back on and say they pushed me in the right direction.
On the other hand I (as you may be aware) come from a pretty large extended family and have a number of cousins. Many of them are similar age to myself and these had access to the same grandad but I suppose didnt spend as much time with him as they were growing up. On one occasions I recall I was out playing with my cousins (i must have been about 7 or something) I clearly recall playing on the sand park near the council flats with Dean, Craig and Michael. They decided that it would be great fun to go over the main road and play on the local railway track! I remember Dean pretending to lie in the track and be dead and the lights changing to green as a train started to approach… we were hiding behind a mound under the bridge as the train past and Dean was quick to get up and dive behind…. Im not sure if the driver saw us…. but I think the people at the local pit must have as my dad somehow discovered we were playing down there! When I saw him come down the embankment I knew I was in the shit as he wasnt looking very happy! After a good old pasting and getting dragged up to the main road I kinda knew then that it might not be a good idea to follow the lead of of cousins as it bloody well hurts when my dad finds out! 21 years later I can now look back and see how that small thing shaped me…. I never followed my cousins and the crowd and now my cousins like Dean and Craig are heroin addicts and have both been locked up a number of times and have never had a job. Its humbeling to think that my dads actions all those years ago had such a positive impact… and I dont think I have ever thanked him for it.
On the whole the way I kinda grew up was doing as I was told… when it came to secondary schoolm my mum went with me to see the secondary school on the open evening. Still remember it like it was yesterday… they had a fusty smell in the entire school (all schools tended to smell fusty… as I would describe it… old peoples smell!). The library they had some pupils work laid out and they had a little set of apple mac classic computers in the corner and the kids were creating a newspaper in Claris Works! I thought it was ace! Uncle Barry and Paul came upto school with us, and uncle Paul was clearly liking one of the teachers (it later turned out she was a lesbian but oh well!). The school was nice but wasnt my choice, had I had my way I would have gone to Catherine McAuley as thats where John Paul was going, one of my best mates when I was in Primary school… but alas mum had made the choise and PPX is where I was going to be bullied for the next 5 years! In retrospect, looking back it was the right choice, and it turned out for the best. I loved school… I made aliances with the teachers and was a right little swot! Me and Navjot were the top of the class and used to actively compete to beat each other.. especialy in science.. I loved biology and beat her hands down in the GCSE’s… yet she is now the ear nose and throat specialist! PPX was a great school and taught me a lot. Some of the stories I could tell you about me growing up in a catholic school, and some of the things we got upto… in the cow sheds… and wiggy the geography teacher… and Mr Donkin the chubby PE teacher who taught PE from a deck chair with a cigar! The point is that its a decision that was taken away from me and I resented having the ability to choose, so when it came to Colleges I got my own back!
In the final year of PPX we were encouraged to go to Thomas Rotherham College as this was the feeder college and had an exceptional reputation! Me and my mum had gone on the open day and were very impressed, it was illustrious and had a great set of facilities and an amazing reputation as well as a good selection of courses, more importantly thats where many of my friends were going. Some had opted to go to the 6th form opposite PPX at Wath Comp (where William Hagues went didnt you know!), but I had other plans. At this point in my life I had discovered computers and discovered that I had a love of electronics and wanted to persue this. My GSCE project for electronics was that complex Mr. Hutchinson couldnt even explain how it worked, I had blown my own software onto a processor and integrated a security system together to build the project… yep I was just that good! As such I wanted to persue my love of electronics but no colleges nearby did it as an A-Level apart from Barnsley College and that was too far away (and a shit hole!). So I decided if I went to Doncaster college they have a great engineering department so I can do my A-Levels and do some electronics stuff as well! Plus as the A-Levels were modular it would be easier to do! Mum had different ideas and suggested I may want to look at TRC again… but was my decision and I opted to go to Doncaster College…. well what a complete f***king mistake!!! When people tell you your mum knows best….. listen to them…. they talk sense! Karen Cockhead was my form tutor and she was permanently on a PMT trip… I would describe her as a transvestite with menstraul issues and a hatred of men. Likewise the economics teacher just talked bollocks and wouldnt listen to reason! In fact the only teacher I got on with was in the IT department, and thats only because I knew more than them and could put them to shame!
….. part 2 coming… now Torchwood…. hehehe