I learned absolutely nothing from school this year that I would probably use in the future.

With one exception.

First impressions count.

'Don't judge a book by it's cover' is a saying that absolutely no one abides by.

At the beginning of the year, I had replied, tongue-in-cheek, to a question set by my chem teacher with an answer that drew racous laughter from the classmates. Somehow, it spread like a wildfire and every student and teacher knew about my little self-deprecating joke.

I was foolish to think that the repercussions of the joke would die down after a week or two. Instead, it stuck in the minds of everyone 'till today. It took a year of trying to disprove the first impression to change their minds. Hm.