When I was transferred from public to private school. There was impossible standards at that school. Their graduation requirements were twice that of the state’s. It really pushed me to became more than the bratty, bullish kid I was. At that same school, my class of the time went to D.C. as an extended field trip. That trip turned out to be 80% disaster and I was forced to take care of myself several times. Its amazing just a bit of short time on city streets will make one think fast and hard. Then there were the deaths in my family, which obviously caused a growth spurt in my maturity.