Last week I visited my high school (Dainai Secondary School) in Šiauliai, where I graduated 11 years ago. The visit developed from the phone conversation a month ago I had with the principal of the school where we discussed and agreed on me giving a couple of seminars to older pupils on university studies and job searching. Basically, it is about giving back to the kids what I got from other people 10 years ago – an inspiration.

It was an enlighten experience to return to the school, see the same teachers who were teaching me 15 years ago. Together that was a troubling feeling – I did not spot many new (unknown) teachers – thus teachers should be quite old on average by now!

What I kept from the visit:

1. At least some secondary schools are in good condition, renovated, equipped.
2. Students are not bad and evil. For sure, the attitude between teachers and pupils has changed, schools became service-oriented, and service consumers today are pupils. Thus relationships are becoming more mature when pupils can demand the service of particular quality. Unfortunately kids are kids, and their demands often become rude expression and lack of respect to service providers – the teachers.
3. The principal recalled one story about me – how I was demanding teachers to be on time in the class on the same basis as teachers demanded our presence on time. Wow, was I so pushy already then?
4. Demographics in Lithuania and small-to-medium cities are not great. Number of kids of school age is decreasing, meaning that out of more than twenty schools in Siauliai some have to be reorganized, or even closed. Dainai Secondary is going to teach 1-8^th grade kids only in few years. L
5. During the seminar I discovered, that the 10-12^th grade kids their monthly financial needs define from 200 to 400 Lt. It was a surprise to me – I would expect bigger sums. However, it is Šiauliai, and not Vilnius. As well, youth are still living with their parents.
6. During seminars pupils were quite engaged and worked well. From such short impression of half a day I lost my fears that youth is not interested, or they are not passionate, degraded, etc.

Pupils evaluated seminars positively, indicating that such events are needed. This gives motivation to return again next time. Both because of them, and because of myself – returning to childhood places brings you peace, don’t they?

Regional newspaper Šiaulių kraštas found out about my visit, grabbed me before the seminars and interviewed. Next day the article “There is no lack of optimism in Lithuania, just look around” was published (in Lithuanian, two photos featured). Update: local copy of the article.

Do you have constant relationship with your secondary school?

Myself, two neighbor girls and my brother ready for lessons at Dainai Secondary school, photo taken around 1987