It's writer's workshop day at Mama Kat's Losin' It and the writing prompt I picked today is: top ten reasons why you’re glad you’re done with school.

I enjoyed school with the exception of Grade 7 and Grade 8. We'll just call those the Lost Years and pretend they never happened. Other than that, I was always happy in September at back-to-school time and a little sad in June as the year started to wind down.

That being said, there are definitely benefits to being done with the whole book-learnin' fiasco.

1. Making money instead of spending it. In college I lived on a $50/week allowance that had to cover everything - food, clothing, entertainment, underage booze, legal age booze... Sometimes I wonder if I could go back to my old allowance. It might be an interesting little experiment. Either way, I'm glad I'm not restricted to 50 bucks each week! Also, my first job in high school (working at McDonald's) paid $5.60 an hour. I thought I was ballin' because minimum wage was $5.50 so right from the get-go I was earning more than my friends at the Wendy's across the street.

2. No more shoddy living arrangements. Also in college I went from living in a house with a religious fanatic AND a WITCH to a house with five cats. I can't even tell you which was worse. In both instances I spent as little time as possible at home and when I was there, I locked myself in my room. It's nice to be able to live with a person and animal I actually love now.

3. No more bus rides. Never again. From elementary through high school I took the bus to school. We had to share a bus with the Dorchester delinquents kids (because "we", the kids from Frosty Hollow, numbered in the single digits and obviously did not warrant our own bus, even of the short variety). So what did this mean? Getting beat up, getting my mittens stolen, having grapes and crackers thrown at my head, getting my hair pulled, getting my head bounced off the bus windows, having people pull on my backpack straps as I'm trying to get off the bus, etc from Grade 1 on. I guess it builds character.

4. Lunch variety. For the first six years of school, I ate a cheese sandwich for lunch four days a week. White bread and orange cheese. One day a week (Tuesday or Thursday) I bought lunch in the cafeteria - one of those round pizzas with three pepperonis. FOR SIX!! YEARS!!!

5. Less exposure to obnoxious children. There's always one kid in every grade that knows EVERYTHING. You know the kid I mean. The one that tells you Santa isn't real is the same kid that tells you where babies come from. It's the same kid that introduce you to things like the F WORD and the term "masturbating" and then you go and ask someone what it means and everyone thinks you're a creepshow. Anyway - last I heard, that kid is now in Alberta working on the oil rigs and my life is much less tumultuous not seeing his bright, shining face every day.

6. Less bullying in general. I was small in elementary school which made me an easy target for being pushed, shoved, chased, and generally molested by the big dumb kids. This has pretty much stopped happening in my adult life.

7. I spend less time sitting out in the hall. I used to get sent out in the hall all the time for talking and laughing, especially during silent reading. I have always had a problem with laughing at inappropriate times, and it started early. As soon as you tell kids to be "silent" they're going to want to make noise!

8. I understand now that Comic Sans is a hideous font choice. I actually remember handing in projects in high school that I had typed using Comic Sans! ON PURPOSE! I should have had marks deducted for ugliness. Live and learn.

9. I don't have to do math anymore. And when I do, I get to use a calculator. As long as you can count, you're golden.

10. I will never have to dissect another animal. Cutting up that frog and that squid in Biology 112 was deeply troubling for me.

Thanks Mama Kat for the prompt!

Why are you glad to be done with school (if you are?) And if you're still in school, what are you most looking forward to about being finished?