Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards

I was in third year...

CARLOS DE URQUIZA Playwright, Argentina

I was in third year. The only thing I was worried about was being the worst student at school. Another classmate and I had a competition about which one of us should sit for more examinations at the end of each year. I was even with him until I made a very strange deal with the anatomy teacher. I used to stay at school for lunch and during the first hour in afternoon we had to attend the anatomy class, which was extremely boring and made me sleep. More than once the teacher had to wake me up during the class.
One afternoon the teacher came in and after the greetings he told me:
“Urquiza, why don’t we make a deal? I come in and ask you if you have studied. You answer: No. I give you an F and let you sleep during the class. You don’t disturb me in the class and I don’t bother you with the explanation. You sit for an exam at the end of the year and everyone is happy”
Of course I accepted the proposal and we carried it out daily. I had to sit for 12 examinations that year. I won the competition but it was a very close final score. I passed every subject and could pass to fourth year, but I had to change school because they didn’t accept me there anymore. I went to Nicolas Avellaneda* but they kicked me out three months later. Of course that is another story.

*Nicolas Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva (1837–1885) was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880