Week One Done

Bang. That was the main though crashing through me on Monday, my first visit to a classroom in almost 3 months. Granted, a new chapter had started with my arrival (at last) at Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge. Hills, as it is colloquially known, topped the national tables with its stunning A-level results. Fair reasoning has it then that carrying the ID card is more than carrying just a piece of plastic. It implies a responsibility to be all that you can be, and in the case of most of the student body, the quantity is quite something to behold, and I'm not just talking about following in the footsteps of Syd Barrett.
Hills Road graduates delve not only in to the musical big-time. Hills Road students also attain the highest Oxbridge admission rates of any school in the country, and thus the world so there is quite some pressure to succeed. This has brought the college the unfortunate reputation of being an exam factory but as of yet (I know, it's early) I haven't seen signs of that. Admittedly, some teachers have been rather exuberant in dishing out homework - Mme. Rigoni and Mr Binfield in particular, but all the same, this isn't the comfortable safety of Village College, this really is the academic big-time.
So, Hills has very musical alumni and a fluorescent-bright student body. What else? Well, the college also boasts some of the nation's best Athletics and Tennis teams, which for sporting wannabes like myself, that reputation doesn't exactly bode well for our chances of getting on said teams. Still, with top-of-the-line reputation comes top-of-the-line facilities. The college has some of the best tennis facilities in East Anglia and an NYO-laden orchestra. Of course, the teaching staff is the main thing and they too do not disappoint. So far I have noticed friendly professionalism, none of the irritability or questionable teaching skills that were rather common back in the village. No sir.
It seems almost alien to be in a French class where I do not have to rub Wasabi in my eyes just to stay awake. Whilst I didn't have such problems in History or English last year, I am pleased to report that there has been no drop-off in the standard of teaching. Most of all, my Politics class, which I had doubts over coming in to the year, has surged to the top of my list. Finding a fault is something I have not achieved yet. Even the notoriously active student body has lived up to its billing.
I'm more tired than I've been in months, even years, but boy am I loving it.