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| From A to Z |

From A to Z: Chapter 7

Yes, it was only one year of school, but an entire nine months of struggling, of 12th-grade exams and lots of note taking. How would I manage?

 

To make a long story short, I’m starting to work at Neshama right after my graduation, at the end of this coming school year. I’ll be joining them for short periods during any school vacations this year, to start getting comfortable with Lali and the staff. I’ll also be taking Lali out on Shabbos afternoons and some Sundays, so she’ll get used to me.

If the system is working, and Lali feels comfortable working with me, Neshama is ready to make an exception and reserve a job for me for next summer and on! That’s how desperate they are — no one managed to get Lali to talk before I did! I also suspect my mother told Mrs. Bergman some stuff I would have preferred to keep secret, but considering how this all worked out, I don’t mind. I won’t have to go to seminary, which I’ve been dreading since I entered high school. My parents agreed that seminary is out of the question for me. This is a nice way to fill the gap.

With that on the horizon, going back to school for 12th grade is slightly easier for me, knowing this will all be over soon and I’ll be able to turn over a new leaf. But the damage of the last year can’t be undone. I was a girl standing on the sidelines instead of being with it, like I used to be. I became part of the shadows in the classroom, there but not there. Some girls barely noticed I came back after my long disappearance. But I was fine with that. I was leaving anyway! I don’t have to go to seminary, and I only have one more year left of school!

Miriam, my good friend, was happy for me.

“Some people are just not cut out for school,” she said. “You’re very lucky to have gotten a job at Neshama!”

“I know,” I said, “I know.” As lucky as a near-school dropout could get, I guess, but I’m fine.

After the initial excitement died down, I realized what I still had ahead of me. Yes, it was only one year of school, but an entire nine months of struggling, of 12th-grade exams and lots of note taking. How would I manage?

I didn’t have the slightest idea. It’d be like swimming across the ocean with no life vest.

Excerpted from Mishpacha Magazine. To view full version, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE or LOG IN.

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