Without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite subject during my school years and the years that have followed since was history.

I always did very well in history and remember in a trial examination, for year 12, getting 88% before sitting by leaving certificate in 1963.

History has been something I have followed out with Leigh ever since. The subject helps me appreciate and respect what has gone before in leading us toward today’s world.

Aligned with history, I also liked English – language and geography. They were my favourite subjects, and I tried to do very well with my results. If my star ever shone academically, it was in the domain of history, with those other subjects not far behind.

Alternatively, I was, am, and always will be hopeless in the dunce class regarding mathematics, physics, and chemistry. These are subjects ever so crucial to one’s traverse through life, yet ever so foreign and unintelligible to me.

Miraculously, there is just one bright spot in the otherwise cesspool of ignorance, which is my lot within these academic domains. I do understand arithmetic well, and that subject makes a lot of sense to me. However, I am lost when it comes to anything that is algebraic, geometric, trigonometric, or calculus-related. I’m also lost, but when it comes to chemistry and physics.

Life serves up different hands to different people, and my lot within the deficit fields mentioned would put me into the bottom 5% of accomplishments determined upon people in this country and this world.