Some would argue that your first day of secondary school is one of the most important days of your life. You were 12 or 13 and thought you knew everything there was to know about life – oh how wrong you were! There was still a lot to learn, and secondary school was the place where you would spend the next six years growing up into a fully-fledged adult. We’ve been reminiscing and have compiled the top five things you learned on day one of secondary school.

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As well as learning arguably ‘essential’ life skills like trigonometry and the Modh Conníollach, more importantly, you mastered things like strong social skills and made friends for life. Even on your very first day of secondary school, you learned so much.

#1. The Commute

Figuring out your commute to school on your first day was half the battle. Going to primary school, you may have been used to being dropped and collected by your parents, but now you were in the big world and left to fend for yourself!

Whether you walked, got the bus or cycled – your first commute to secondary school was a learning experience in itself. You had to learn essential time management skills, as well as how to balance a school bag, gear bag and lunch bag while you walked!

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#2. Who Your Classmates Were

As you were sorted into your class, you nervously glanced around the school hall taking in your new classmates. They were the people who you would be spending almost every day with for the next six years. ‘Will I get on with anyone?’ ‘What if they don’t like me?’ – your first day was tough, especially when you didn’t know anyone. But your worries were swiftly put to one side when you started up a conversation about how itchy your uniform jumpers were with the person beside you – and just like that, a friendship was born.

#3. Favourite Teacher

Everyone had a favourite teacher in secondary school, and this title was usually given out pretty quickly on your first day. Coming from primary school, where you only had one teacher, it took a while to wrap your head around having a different teacher for each subject.

On your first day, you promptly learned that each teacher had very different teaching styles and personalities. Normally the title of the favourite teacher was given to whoever didn’t give you homework on your first day – this was always a fail-safe move made by the young, ‘hip’ staff to guarantee the popular teacher votes!

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#4. Your First Locker

Before your first day of secondary school, you were unaware of the hindrance of getting assigned a bottom locker. If you were one of the lucky ones who managed to get their hands on a top locker, you won’t be able to relate to the awkward head bangs and books falling on you from the top lockers throughout the day.

However, it wasn’t all bad, having your first locker meant it was time to decorate! Pictures from the local disco and your favourite celebrity crush acted as a wallpaper lining the inside of your locker, which made school that bit more fun.

#5. Your First Subjects

Generally, for the first few weeks of secondary school you had the opportunity to try out all subjects before deciding on which ones to take. On your first day, you were exposed to so many new things, which you hadn’t experienced in primary school. After your first day, you swiftly got an idea of what you liked and disliked. Whether you found out that you loved music and despised woodwork or had a passion for art and detested German; it was a fantastic opportunity to try them all out for yourself!

Over to you now. What are your memories of what you learned on your first day at secondary school? Please share them in the comments box below.