It’s been around seven years since I hung up my green tie, cleared out my locker and walked out of the school gates that read Ysgol Gyfun y Strade, one last time.
And although university and jobs have been and gone, there’s something very special about the five (or seven in my case) years you spend at your comprehensive school, that end up shaping your life.
Inside that red bricked building I made my best friends, passed my qualifications and learned valuable life lessons.
And while I still remember ‘gyd o yw bachgyn bach o’r Eidal’ and pythagoras’ theorem, there are a number of little quirks you’ll only remember if you went to ‘Strade.’
1. Your mum would always complain that it was impossible to find green shirts and 'why can't you be in white like everywhere else?'
2. And while black trousers were easy to come by in most shops, navy were a bit trickier and you’d be fighting for the last size in Topshop on August 31.
3. For the first few years of school, the motto to follow was - the shorter the tie, the cooler the guy
4. And while the school uniform was different - no-one wore the grey pleated PE skirts that looked more like something from the Amish country
5. Your PE uniform was always carried in a Generation or Jane Norman shopping bag
6. Patriotism for your school house dwindled through most of the year until it was Mabolgampau, when it was all out war between Gwenllian, Buddug, Madog and Rhodri
7. Or, of course, the school Eisteddfod - the only time you would scream like a barbarian after hearing a poem about a beach
8. It was also the only time you could make fun of your teachers and just be greeted with a tight lipped smile
9. Days sat on the Gampfa walls were the best days
10. But you would always stare longingly at the sixth formers who were allowed to get their lunch from the Denham shop
11. All out anarchy erupted when the school decided to put gates by the Denham entrance
12. But nothing could have ever prepared you for the day when they decided to get rid of all the school’s vending machines (Curse you Jamie Oliver!)
13. When the lunchtime tannoy made its announcements, you could bet that there would be 'Ymarfer Cor' (Choir Practice) - did those girls ever have a lunch break?
14. The staff room mathematically made no sense and seemed like Narnia with more teachers always going into the tiny space (it's been confirmed that it is not a mythical place but simply a room with a couple of sofas)
15. And the Ffreutr (cafeteria) - How is a room that small supposed to host over a thousand pupils?
16. It was an exciting day when they stopped taking cash at the food tills and you acted like part of the CIA while getting your thumb print scanned
17. But you were never too adventurous with your meal choices, frequently swapping between turkey burgers, pasta king or chips cheese and beans
18. And if you wanted a snack there was always someone selling Galaxy chocolate bars or Shockers on the black market aka - (budding entrepreneur pupils selling from their gym bags)
19. 'Am, Ar, At, Dan, Dros, Drwy, Wrth, Gan, Heb, Hyd, I, O' is the correct way to say it
20. But the meaning of ‘Nid da lle gellir gwell’ was always up for debate
21. And you’d argue that the tagline in everybody's Bebo biography ‘Diamonds are nice and so are pearls, but nothing can beat us Strade girls’ is a much more fitting school motto
22. Sixth Formers seemed like fully grown adults when you were in year 7, with mortgages and Vauxhall Corsas
23. But it was an easy decision to stay for Sixth Form when you factored in the 'lolfa' and the constant fancy dress parties
24. Crossing Sandy Road could take at least half an hour
25. And sneaking someone onto your bus who didn’t have a bus pass felt like cracking the Da Vinci Code
26. You were warned not to go roaming through the haunted Stradey Woods
27. And the idea of the 'Cell Cosb' was actually really scary and you imagined it being like the 'Chokey' from Matilda
28. But a worse punishment was being made to run cross country around Sandy Water Park
29. You’d always offer to walk the 'cofrester' (register) to the office just to have a little walk around the school
30. Although the school has an impressive alumni, Imogen Thomas from Big Brother is the one that you always remember
31. Now driving past you always look at the old building with fond memories and nostalgia...
32. ...But you're happy that at least Sandy Road traffic means that you’ll have 20 minutes to drive past it
