8-Year-Old Bullied For Her Love of Bugs Just Got Her First Scientific Publication

[DFW]

20. Even here in Germany

My girls were more or less stomped upon by their school administration for their "out-of-the-box" thinking, which we, the parents, encouraged.

We got our revenge especially with the younger one. In Germany, when you transfer from one school to another, the school often takes it as an insult. My younger daughter took her "year abroad" in the States, and went straight on to a University in Washington. During summer vacation after her graduation (Germany has 13 years of high school), we went to her high school in Düsseldorf, and said she was transferring to another school. The administrator huffily said, "well then, You have to fill out this form." The form asked all sorts of questions, including what school she was transferring to, and in what city it was located. We filled it out, citing her new "high school" as George Washington University, city Washington D.C., USA. As NO students in our part of Germany are allowed to enter a university at her level, the woman's eyes bugged out, and whispered, "uhhh, ummm, much success." German girls are not supposed to be capable of such an achievement. Our unsaid comment was, of course, "maybe because you never give them that chance."