I received an excellent education by all reasonable metrics. My teachers were caring, yet disciplinarian, intelligent, yet humble. I thank God for them, but other aspects of my school life, growing up, were quite unfortunate. Our school was small and not well funded. The classrooms were cramped and sparsely furnished with little wooden desks and chairs from the 50s! I could go on, but the most difficult thing to deal with of all was the lack of air conditioning and boiler that was always breaking down. Summers in my hometown were mild, for the most part, but heat waves were not uncommon. I remember our only respite from the heat in our cramped and poorly ventilated classrooms was opening the one small window. The breeze was either a thin wisp of cool air or nonexistent, which defeated the point. Winters were far worse. Below freezing or even single digit temperatures were common. The old boiler that served as the heat source for our school was temperamental, to say the least. When it did function, the warmth could be overbearing in the rooms near the boiler room. I found myself sweating, quite a lot. When it was on the fritz, however, things were far worse. Without heat in the classrooms, my teeth were chattering and I would shiver uncontrollably! I soon learned the necessity of packing extra layers, just in case the boiler wasn’t working that day. I am pleased when I drive by my old school today. It is much bigger and I can see that central heating and air conditioning has been installed. Those students are fortunate!