Doctor - a zigzag journey

Part 10 - Puberty - what was going on?

Background: 1979 - 1985 (Age 12 - 18 years)

When I turned 12, I was given an identity card, which signified the status of an "adult". Perhaps I should say "a young adult". I was ready to attend a secondary school which was quite far away from my home. It took forty minutes on foot or fifteen minutes by bicycle. My family had no money to buy a car, but we had two "iron horses" - bicycles. One was meant for the girls; the other one, of course, was for the boys. The bicycles were old; its chain always fell off the chain-set.

In 1980, I was 13, full of vitality, and I looked forward to the life of a secondary school student. The big changes from primary to secondary school were: apart from English and Chinese, all other subjects were taught in Malay language instead of Chinese language that was used at the primary school; my school uniform changed from white top and dark blue short trouser, to white top and dark green long trouser instead. Oh well, acne populated many adolescents' faces. My face was not spared.

My school classes were in the afternoon. Clad in the new school uniform, I cycled under the sun which was like a furnace. My enthusiasm to meet new classmates and teachers propelled me to cycle tirelessly. However, I also worried that the ancient bicycle might break down under pressure. Fortunately, it didn't. Waves of hot wind hit my face. Occasionally tiny debris had no mercy for my eyes. You may ask me, why didn't I wear sunglasses? The answer is simple - I had no money.

On the first day, my teacher selected class monitors. My God, why she picked me? I might look good enough for the role. One of my female classmates was selected too. She was AL who was friendly and approachable. She had big eyes, a fair complexion, and black and curly short hair. AL and I were appointed class monitors.

( "Bangun! Selamat petang cikgu," )"Stand up, salute, good afternoon teacher," AL announced. We all stood at attention and greeted our teacher as she walked into the class.

Using Malay language in mathematics, science, geography, and history was quite difficult at first. Over time, I adapted pretty well. Some of the male classmates looked forward to the science subject, especially the last two chapters about puberty and "introduction to the human reproductive system". I wonder why these two chapters were left until the end of the year. Perhaps we were a little more mature by then to comprehend the chapters, I guessed.

In puberty, some adolescents might feel shy, embarrassed, or emotional due to the hormonal changes in their bodies. My classmates and I were no exceptions. We were shy and embarrassed to broach the topic regarding puberty. However, since the "seed of wanting to become a doctor" was sowed in my head, I had a positive attitude in facing this.

Birth, puberty, growth, aging, sickness and death are parts of the natural life cycle. Unfortunately, I helplessly witnessed my father's illness and death during my childhood. But, I had not really understood the other parts of the life cycle.

During puberty, I was most upset with my facial acne. But, AL had an unblemished skin. I wondered what cosmetic product she was using. I didn't ask her because I couldn't afford it anyway. I guessed she was facing other challenging physiological and psychological changes instead.

KS was one of my male classmates. He was tall with broad shoulders and a square-shaped face. He seemed to be our "leader" in matters related to puberty and adolescents. I heard that he had some "puberty information" to share with some classmates. We waited expectantly.

*****

A notable quote:

Robin Marantz Henig："The limbic system explodes during puberty, but the prefrontal cortex keeps maturing for another 10 years."

Reference: brainyquote website

Note:

The brain's limbic system contains hippocampus and amygdale; it has many roles such as mood, behaviour, and short-term memory. See the figure in this chapter - the red part is the brain's limbic system.

The prefrontal cortex of the brain has many functions, including thinking, reasoning, decision making, executing tasks, and so on.

reference: Wikipedia webpage.