What school did you go to? Really. Most of the time I can’t even be bothered answering this question. If the person asking is from Sydney they probably haven't even heard of Bathurst, let alone be familiar with it's schools. I went to a pretty rough public school in a low socioeconomic area of Bathurst, Kelso. The school wasn’t prestigious or pretty, in fact when I was in Year 11 the whole thing burnt down, so I spent my senior years in ugly looking demountables. It was pretty much the shack filled slum from District 9, the kind of school Ja’mie would call “fucking povo”. I chose this school on my on accord, as I wanted to stay with my best friend from primary school. The rest of my sisters went to private schools in Bathurst.
The thing that irritates me most about this question; it’s not like this school is an accurate representation of my current status, intellect or personality. Just because I went to a derelict school doesn’t make me derelicte. Moreover, you can’t make assumptions about an individual’s experience at their school; their social circles, commitment to study, the quality of their teachers. My ex went to the fancy pants all boys private college in Bathurst, he and his mates spent their school days hiding rotten, stinky food in the plumbing of the grandiose Howarts style building, just to piss their teachers off. That school also had paedophile Priests on staff, just sayin’. I might have been at a less flashy school but I worked fucking hard. I was a legit nerd; school captain, debate team, soccer club. Not Max Fischer status but not far off, and for the most part I had good teachers, well none fondled me at least.
Whenever I tell people Ollie went to Barker it seems to get a good reaction. It’s nice I guess, but I mean if people are impressed he went to an expensive school, I really don’t want to be friends with them. And please don’t brag if you went to a pricy private place, it’s not impressive or attractive, it just means you had really nice parents who forked out ridic school fees. Anyway – it’s not about measuring schools against each other, or comparing experiences. It’s about the fact that it was nearly 10 years ago and school chat is fucking lame.
It’s almost as lame as people who ask your UAI score (ATAR for you young people). Yes, this still happens to me. Why is this information even relevant? Apparently I did well enough to get work in a relatively well respected government agency, doing something I quite enjoy. Besides, do you really want to judge a person based on a number they received as a hormone raging adolescent experiencing extreme levels of stress. I think people ask this question when they’re super proud of their own results. Go for it, show off, it just shows you probably peaked in high school.