SOMETIMES A TEACHERS HELPED
to counter the loneliness & abuse

PREVIOUS: ACoA Ed Inv. (#1)

See ACRONYM Page for abbrev.

 

NOTE: There might be some overlaps with Qs from Part 1. You can skip those, or maybe here they’re in a different context, or you’ll remember something else.
TEACHERS
• how did you get along with teachers? Anyone special or especially helpful?
• how were you treated / what was their attitude toward you?
• did you ever get in trouble with school authorities? If yes, when & what for? What was the outcome?
• did you use drugs &/or alcohol connected to school  (events, people…)? What happened, & what was the effect on you?

PEERS
• How were you treated by other kids?  How did that feel?
• If you were not accepted by your peer, what do you think made you different from them?
• Did you have any friends? Who, how many & in what grades?
A BFF or best bud? For how long? What happened to the friendship?
• If you were popular, when, where & why do you think you were?
• If that changed at any point, what happened that caused a shift?
• What did you do, (if anything) or not do, to protect yourself from other kids?
• Did anyone help you with your social problems in school?

COLLEGE
• how many colleges did you attend? What type? (local, vocational, under-grad, grad….)
• who decided where? Why?
• how was the money put together for your schooling?  Did you have to pay it off? Is it done or ongoing?
• where did you live then? What were the circumstances? Did this help or hurt you?
• what were your majors & minor subjects ? Who picked that? Why?
• did you change majors? Why? Which one did you prefer?
• did you finish college? If not, why? Did you go back later & finish?
• If not, do you want to go back & finish?
• if  Yes – what would you take? Finish or add to an old major, or take something different?

GRADUATIONS
List all the graduations & special ceremonies you were part of at each school
• were any family members there? How did they behave? What did they say about these events?
• who else attended in your honor?
• were there any celebrations?
• did you enjoy these occasions? (aside from any family drama)
• were there any graduations or ceremonies at your school that you missed? Why?
• were there any you didn’t want to go to? Why? How do you feel about that now?

PS: What about school Reunions, for any level? Have you gone? If not why? If yes how did they turn out?

EVALUATION
• looking back, what have you learned about your attitudes toward
— schools & education             —  peers & teachers
— your intelligence, talents, study habits, accomplishments
• have you seen improvements in the past few months or years?
• have these attitudes changed any since you’ve been in Recovery?

✶ DOING WELL in life, with or without a formal education, implies not only native ability but also having certain skills, such as the ability to understand, absorb & retain complex information.
It required concentration, comprehension, following instructions, memorizing, speaking….  many of which you probably did NOT get from your dysfunctional home!
You managed to survive the system & even excel, in spite of all the stress you went thru, so give yourself a lot of credit & give your Natural Inner Kid a BIG HUG.
You can learn, no matter what you heard at home or anywhere else. You survived a lot of hard times. You ARE smart! You survived them, didn’t you?

If you have a 12-Step Sponsor, therapist or appropriate friend, you can share what you’ve written to get positive feedback!

NEXT: Family inventory Overview