After reading this thread and one on school pranks, perhaps I wasn’t as bad a kid as I always thought I was.
I was a poor hashkafic fit for my school — it was very hard-right yeshivish… and I wasn’t. Furthermore, because I didn’t fit “the mold,” I was often ignored and, therefore, barely learned anything there in my time.
The Rosh Yeshiva knew that I wasn’t a good fit for the school — but I was generally well-behaved. The worst that could be said about me (as far as in-school behavior went) was that I was failing Gemara. Nonetheless, the fact that I had a different mindset than the other kids made me stick out like a sore thumb.
I think the worst thing I ever did was trying to play a mind game with the Rosh Yeshiva. I decided to try my hand at composing some divrei Torah and began carrying it around with me in a folder. I carried the folder around with me everywhere on school grounds for a few days until finally, one day, he called me over and angrily demanded to know what was in the folder.
I sheepishly handed it over and let him inspect it.
Yeah, I know, expecting a smile for trying to compose divrei Torah would have been too much. I just got a scowl, was told not do it again (the “it” not being explained) and sent on my way.
The Wolf