At school, I was always the new boy, so I always went in for the school play. It was a way of breaking the ice and making friends with pupils and teachers for however long I had before moving on.
Moving to a new school, or up a year at an existing school - with new friends, teachers, subjects, rules and expectation - is a big deal for young people. All of us who are adults remember how daunting it was, but we sometimes take it for granted that children will be able to cope with the change.
It was awkward because the high school that I went to, my aunt taught at, it was this private boy's school in D.C. There were one or two teachers that I had the hots for, but never fully expressed my feelings because my aunt was always watching.
I've never had issues with popularity. I was always a popular guy... I've always had friends and loved ones and everything, so it wasn't like, 'Oh man, I gotta fill some void that was left by high school.' I had a great high-school experience.
I've never had issues with popularity. I was always a popular guy... I've always had friends and loved ones and everything, so it wasn't like, "Oh man, I gotta fill some void that was left by high school." I had a great high-school experience.
I studied dance at a high school arts magnet program before moving on to Miami's New World School of the Arts, and from there, I went on to study at The Juilliard School.
I enjoyed school until the age of 13 - I loved my teachers, my friends. Then, suddenly, you get thrown into a boys' school, and the ecosystem changed, and I wasn't sure where I fitted in. I was still always the clown, but I wasn't inspired, I guess.
When I was younger I was always big; I was a fat boy at school. I had an early growth spurt, and when I went to secondary school I was tall enough to be a policeman.
I had the benefit of going to a really good high school on Long Island. I went to Shoreham-Wading River High School, which kind of started as an experimental public school back in the 60s and 70s. It had a bunch of teachers there with a unique teaching philosophy.
I had a great high-school experience. I had a lot of friends that I'm still really good friends with, but there's always times where a group can't understand what the individual is experiencing, or you're going through something at home that you can't bring to school and have a total understanding among your peers.
My first school play was 'Perkin and the Pastry Cook' that my primary school put on, and I played a boy, and it was so much fun, and I'd love to play a boy again. I think that would be great.
I went to a military school, so I'm always talking like 'Yes, sir,' or 'No, ma'am.' I was doing that even before military school, so I've always had it, I guess.
At school, before I left, I was making cake mixes and taking them to school, giving them to teachers and my classmates.
If you film a little boy going to school, the big event in that boy's day and all the classmates' and teachers' day is you being there filming, not the school.
If you're afraid to talk to the other adults in your school it is definitely throughout history the hallmark of a failing school. When I was writing about the teachers' strike in New York City in 1968, the middle school where events triggered that strike was a place where teachers were known to hide in their classrooms.
I've never been to a school reunion. Mainly because I'm still in touch with my two friends and after them, I only really liked the teachers. I'm pretty sure no one invites teachers to school reunions.
I was a very bad student. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't want to go farther in school. I hated school and was always the bad one; I was always insulting the teachers.