I was ridiculed in public school for being smart. A teacher's pet.

My mother was a public school teacher in Virginia, and we didn't have any money, we just survived on happiness, on being a happy family.

In grade school I was smart, but I didn't have any friends. In high school, I quit being smart and started having friends.

I went to a public school through sixth grade, and being good at tests wasn't cool.

Often times the public school teachers are ridiculed or they are made to feel inferior but this is really undeserved.

From fifth grade on, I worked at our public library. The pay, a pittance, was almost superfluous. All through high school, I looked forward to summer as the time when I could work at the library four or five days a week. I was never a camp counselor, a lifeguard, a scooper of ice cream.