In Catholic high school…

High school graduation - June 2002

…I learned that Hell is supposed to be somewhere where God is not with you. This made no sense to me, because God is supposedly everywhere. When I asked my religion teacher about this, she said something to the effect of, “well, God chooses not to be in Hell.” It’s been a decade and I still don’t know what that means.

…my religion teacher told me that it was a sin to pollute the Earth and waste resources. This teacher drove a giant SUV.

…my geometry teacher helped us with a mnemonic to remember what a six-sided polygon is called. She tiptoed to the classroom door, closed it quietly and then tiptoed back to where she had been standing. She learned forward and whispered, “Six. Sex. Hex.” She paused for a moment, clearly embarrassed about using the “S”-word. Then she opened the classroom door again and went back to teaching as though nothing had happened.