I can draw and happily share my artwork today, but when I was a kid? I was self-conscious as fuck. I was already bullied for any and every conceivable reason. You’re absolutely right, those projects were torture. I have an issue with procrastination, but sometimes I would work on a project, actually complete the thing, then on the day it was due I wouldn’t bring it in because I didn’t want it displayed for everyone to see. I took the F because it was less painful.

It doesn’t help that more wealthy kids had access to better materials, and consequently got better grades because their work “looked more professional.” I either had a small budget, or had to make do with whatever we already had at home. You’d think the teachers would grade on creativity, but nah. Once those kids started coming in with their reports in fancy covers, looking like they made their own booklet, the rest of us (some of whom didn’t even own printers) were sunk. The individual effort never paid off - it was all about looking good. Add in that some students absolutely had their parents’ help (while my parents each worked full time to support a total of four kids), and yeah. The class differences became apparent - you could see it from our report cards.