I hated school. I was an A student all the way, at or near top of the class from my earliest years, but I despised the place. It bored me almost senseless. I read voraciously at home, especially science and most especially physics. I grew crystals, built my own electronic systems, collected and categorized rocks and fossils, tried to build my own Wilson Cloud Chamber (failing because I couldn't get any dry ice or radium), and ran many chemistry experiments, even unwittingly making chlorine gas at one point. I philosophized and pondered, schemed and plotted. But when I got to school, a switch was flicked, and the misery of boredom ensued from about 9:00am to 4:00pm every weekday. Gawd how I hated that brain-killing, interest-nullifying place.
Except ... except when I was in the care of a few teachers. Those few, those happy few, those band of poor sods who had to keep me entertained; they rescued school, for me, from being an utter waste of my time. I doubt the rest of my teachers were bad -- in the face of the modern state school system, even back then, it takes a veritable warrior of pedagogy to stay effective -- but these are the ones who stand out for me.