Three high schools in two years: How the right classroom helped me thrive

With the school year coming to a close, I’ve been reflecting on my formative years in education. I attended three different high schools during forms three and four. Being a teenager is tough enough, but as someone with a vision impairment and health needs others didn’t take the time to understand, there were challenges. But I discovered that being surrounded by the right people is essential to one’s growth.

My first high school was local and attended by many students from my primary school. I gravitated to a friend group, mostly of new classmates who were generous and understanding of my low vision and the barriers that came with it. But I was also put into the school’s special learning unit and experienced some stigma from some students.

The more time I spent in this unit, the more uncool I felt - as you would as a teenager - and left out of being amongst my classmates. Music was not one of my interests at the time, but I played the piano for fun to entertain friends; it helped me to connect with them. But because I was in the unit, my behaviour drastically changed as I tried distancing myself from both disability and the learning services. I started disrupting classes and getting into fights, which led to a lot of detentions. By the end of the year, I had to transfer schools.

The following year, I was enrolled in another high school that had a learning service specifically for students who were blind or had low vision. The teachers believed being in this system amongst those with the same lived experience would help me get on track. But that was not the case. With this school being so far away from home, I felt even more isolated from family and friends.

Months passed and I was in complete misery, desperately finding any excuse to stay home. I even asked about returning to my previous high school, it was that bad. With so much stress and anxiety built up, I began getting headaches and slept a lot. Despite having been to two doctors, they couldn’t pinpoint a diagnosis.

Then the worst happened. In the middle of the night one night, I had a seizure and was rushed to hospital where it was soon discovered that I was suffering from hydrocephalus. I recall waking up, unaware of the severity of my condition and relieved that I didn’t have to go to school that day!

My situation was critical; I wasn’t expected to survive after continual fits and bouts of memory loss. Surgery was required to help treat my condition which required placing a shunt at the back of my head and connecting a tube to my abdomen so that liquid could flow from the brain. During this time, my Mum’s faith was pushed to the brink but sustained by the overwhelming support of extended family, neighbours, and our church community. Through God’s grace, I recovered.

After an extensive stay in the hospital, I enrolled in my third high school. Finally, I found somewhere I could be me. It was a much-needed reset and a more suitable option, as I joined many of my fellow church members who were students at this school. They supported me as I settled into my new surroundings, and unlike my two previous schools, my disability and use of learning services didn’t define me.

This school was known for having high academic standards, but even better, it had an excellent music department, meaning I instantly felt at home. Music was an integral part of this school, where they fostered students from all years to pursue their passions, in addition to helping them find opportunities after leaving school. Having played the piano in church, my friends encouraged me to pursue music at school.

My first of many school performances came during the annual music concert. At the time, the movie Lion King was in theatres, so I played Elton John’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight. After my performance, the audience gave me a warm ovation. Not knowing how to respond, I hurried back to my seat at the very end of the hall, holding an awkward smile while the audience continued their applause. I remember seeing the deputy principal smiling from ear to ear. After that, my confidence began to grow with every performance. These performances prepared me for further education in music at the Music & Audio Institute of NZ and Otago University.

I loved the rest of my time in high school. I gained independence through tasks such as catching the bus to and from school. My friends would also hop on the same bus at various stops, then they waited around with me after school until I got on the bus. My church and school lives were never woven together until this point; music brought them together. I no longer felt like an outcast and finally felt accepted because I could express myself through my love of playing the piano. In hindsight, I realised how impactful these support systems were during this season of my life.

If I could advise my younger self, I would say explore all your options. Don’t be put into an environment and be expected to flourish just because the system and the people enforcing it say it works – someone doing their job is not the same as doing right by you. And very importantly, be amongst the right people.