How to Skip School

How To Skip School

(or How to Fail 9th grade)



I don’t have many memories of my short-lived high school career at Coral Gables High School. Maybe it’s because I rarely showed up. My education consisted of running from truancy cops, loitering in Dadeland Mall, and memorizing all the Metro Rail stops.

I had just spent three years at Gulliver Academy and was overjoyed to finally be going to public school. However, by the time I got there I had already decided that school wasn’t for me. The fact that the Coral Gables Metro Rail station was within walking distance made my life much easier.

I, like every other fourteen year old, thought I was SO cool. I was a self-proclaimed “non-conformist” who did all her shopping at Hot Topic before one was ever opened in Miami. You could usually find me clad in baggy jeans and some rock band t-shirt, sometimes it would be Slipknot or maybe even the Misfits. I was too cool for school, because everybody knows only nerds show up to class, and I was a rebel who didn’t care about rules and regulations. Obviously, I, also, had no idea that the future was inevitable.

I took a school bus to Gables High every morning and always got there before class started. I spent that time across the street at 7-11 smoking pot and being a “bad ass.” I usually found some accomplice to join me in my skipping excursions, so I didn’t have to spend the day alone. The walk to the Metro Rail station was done before class started in order to avoid the police, who would be patrolling the premises looking for truants like me. Half the morning would be spent riding up and down the Metro Rail, up to Okeechobee and back down to Dadeland South and then switching trains and doing it again. Finally, at around 10a.m., when the cops wouldn’t be on the prowl for skippers, it would be time to get a hearty breakfast of Crossainwiches at Burger King, followed by a trip next door to Barnes and Noble. It was kind of ironic to be spending time at a bookstore considering I was doing my best to avoid getting an education. Dadeland Mall was next on my skipping to-do list. My go-to stores at the mall were Pacific Sunwear (so I could add to my oversized jeans collection) and Claire’s (so I could add to my wrist full of cheap bracelets). I don’t think I ever actually spent any money at these stores, and by some miracle, I was never caught with my five-finger “purchases.” I made it back to school just in time to get high with the students who decided it was a good idea to waste the day going to class. After my smoking sessions I hopped back on the Metro Rail, took it to the Brickell station, and jumped on the B bus to Key Biscayne to tell my mom what a great day in school I had.

I ended up failing 9th grade, and at sixteen I dropped out and did the best thing I could have done for myself, got my GED. In hindsight, I probably should have showed up to class more often…