he crossover from primary school to secondary school was not so much easy or hard, but different.

Primary school was a time where I felt not obligated to excel, but it was a priority. Besides the fact that my family basically pushed me to the limit to do well in my studies and since I was very young, inexperienced, and naive. I saw their demands as encouragement.

Getting to school early was fun to me, mainly because of the games the students played on the field before school started. In class, learning was no big thing. Just one obstacle standing in my path to recess and lunch, so I tried to get my work completed accurately and quickly.

Oral classes were more of a game to me. Every person in the class was a contestant and I hated to lose so usually I caught on to the work faster than the rest just to win the game. It was the challenge of academic competition that kept me interested and focussed. The prize was additional information drilled into my head to enhance my knowledge. I still played the game with the same amount of enthusiasm regardless if the prize wasn't something I could visualise.

During class, the answers just seemed to go to the front of my brain and pop out of my mouth. That wasn't the case when it came to tests. For some reason, I always get nervous during a test and usually I would blank out for about ten minutes before the answers came to me. By that time I had to rush through the test, limiting the amount of time I had to check over my answers. I felt like there was too much pressure; like the results of this one test decided whether or not I succeeded on my end-of-year grade.

Besides from the expectations of my family, teachers, and friends, there really wasn't any pressure. I guess I tried a little too hard to live up to everyone's expectations including myself, which resulted in me becoming extremely dubious about my ability. Fortunately, the odds often were directed in my favour.

Then there came the time for me to progress onto a higher level of education.

It was exciting to be subjected to such a diversity of personalities. I often found myself going through cadences as I introduced myself to my new peers and communicated with them. It was a good experience. There was no discrepancy about ethnical debates or who didn't like whom. We were a conglomeration, sent into the world of higher education, in search of the location of various classes.

That year was definitely a change from what I was used to. In primary school I never had to move from one class to the next and I always had a teacher teaching all the subjects for that school year. Now I had a different teacher for every subject. At first it was difficult to adjust to all of their personalities, but I got used to it.

The most significant factor in the crossover was the difference in the amount of students. There was at least four times the amount of students in secondary school then there were in primary school. The school day always began with a whole 40 minutes of what was known as "homeroom''.

My homeroom teacher was the first person who I actually couldn't just look at her and tell what she was thinking. Her name was Mrs. Wilson. She expected implicit obedience and had an inscrutable smile. Her instructions were immediately obeyed and her voice was sturdy. Basically she was well respected by all.

I went through so many physical and mental changes that it became overwhelming and at times too much to cope with. I wasn't as enthusiastic to do work as I was in primary school. It was still a challenge, but it wasn't exciting. It was no longer a priority; it became an obligation. At that point, I thought about the distinction in the types of pressure -- or as I saw it unnecessary stress -- in primary school and in secondary school. Those heeds from my family were not fully words of encouragement; they were regulations set for me.

My mentality grew tremendously -- maturity wise -- and I started to do things according to what I thought was best for me; mind you I still heard every word of my family's instruction, but I hardly listened. Learning was no longer a game that I had to win, it was a stepping stone to my future. Since only I could control what my future was to be, that meant getting serious and not only doing the work, but also fully understanding every aspect of it in order to get everything possible out of it. I guess one could say I got a reality check. School was no longer a place for fun and games.

n order to succeed in this job, I had to really work hard at it and this meant applying myself. For example, mathematics was advanced compared to what I was used to. It consisted of topics such as algebra, trigonometry, and concentric circles. As my efforts seemed endless, so did the workload. I didn't mind it though. It was challenge.

This brought about another conflict, tests. I had to figure out a way to take the test without really thinking it was a test to calm myself and complete the test to the best of my ability. I thought of test as an individual class assignment that was completely independent. To my relief, it worked. I found myself not only finishing the test confidently, but also having ample amount of time for checking over the test for any errors.

Over the years I not only improved my study skills, but looked at life from a different perspective. Instead of just going through the motions, I did additional research and in some cases even read ahead to prepare myself for the next day's lesson. I still enjoyed my recess and lunch to the fullest on a daily basis.

To sum it all up, I separated time for fun and games from time for attentiveness and hard work. After all, life is boring and dull with all work and no play. There comes a time when everyone eventually has to grow up and take charge of their life and what they want all the hard work and effort to lead up to. It comes with maturity, experience, and life learned lessons -- even if those lessons are learned the hard way.

By Tiffany Swann