When I was in high school, I fell under the spell of that crazy idea that if you're interested in the arts, you can't be interested in science.
Almost everyone shuts down when science becomes too technical; you've got to infuse it with entertainment and storytelling to make it effective. From high school on, science is taught in a very dry manner, which isn't as potent.
So nonetheless given the importance that was placed on sport in Australia, I wanted to be part of that scene, particularly since I had felt very strongly in my early schooling being marginalised even in the Catholic school.
My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a white teacher until I got to high school.
In high school, I was Mr. Choir Boy. I had solos, I was helping out the tenors with their parts and our choir teacher would ask me what songs we should do.
High school is a haunted house in April, when seniors act up because the end is near. Even those who hate school sometimes cling to the devil they know. And for the kids who love it, the goodbyes are hard to think about.
I have a box of things from Becca, my high school girlfriend, and Vanessa; and each one of them was love. I have the notes, the valentines, 20 mixed tapes, all of it. It's important to keep that stuff.
I was in every band class I could get in, like after school jazz band and marching band, and that's where I really learned to read music from elementary all the way through junior high and high school.
Acting was always something I loved doing, but I didn't know that I would pursue it professionally. I really loved doing plays at school, but I was in a rock band and ended up going to a school for music.
I started in high school to be interested in music and from there, I decided to study in college. Yeah, you're right, I did start late, but luckily, because of my schooling, I picked up a lot of ground pretty quick.
But I spent just two calendar years at Cornell University, though it was covering more than three years of work, and then went to medical school and did become interested in psychiatry, and even helped form a kind of psychiatry club in medical school...
I hated high school. Ugh. I couldn't wait until it was over so I could sleep in. In college, I made sure all my classes were in the afternoon. I hated getting up in the morning.
Columbia Law School men were being drafted, and suddenly women who had done well in college were considered acceptable candidates for the vacant seats.
I have my name Cory on my left arm, and I have my mom's name on my right with a cross. She passed away while I was still in high school, so I got that on my right arm.
I have very young looks, so it's easy for me to play high school, but I'm trying to stay away from high-school movies. As I get older, I'll try and broaden my talents.
School was hard for me. If there had been a school for the creative arts, I might have thrived, but... I needed that creative outlet so much. Also, I'm just bad with numbers.
People tend to think that because I'm a performer and I don't go to a regular high school that I haven't personally been affected by bullies. But it's actually quite the contrary.
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.
In many countries, schools are preparing students to participate in a democratic environment; yet schools themselves tend to be extremely autocratic, with all high-level decisions being made by adults.
When you introduce competition into the public school system, most studies show that schools start to do better when they are competing for students.
Even when I was in school shows, in elementary school doing plays, I'd always go off book and start improvising.
