It was the first day of class for the twelfth grade of a high school, and I was one of the students in the class. About 30 students were in the class. All were seated except me. I was standing in front of the class facing the others. To my left was a man who was the teacher. I looked out over the students and saw that most, if not all, were men.

I was self conscious of the fact that I was so old to be going back to high school. But I was encouraged at seeing several other older men in the class. Some even looked to be in their 40s and 50s. If it was permitted for them, then it should be permitted for me.

I had often thought of returning to high school, but had never actually done it. I had gone to some other schools, but had only lasted a day or two. I thought this might be my opportunity to actually stick with it.

I knew it was going to be difficult. The day consisted of five classes, each lasting an hour and a half. That would leave practically no time for studying. I thought I would need to pay close attention to the teacher in the classes since I wouldn't have time to review later.

I also thought I would like to get to know some of the other students and make friends. The only drawback I saw was that none of the classes were language classes. I would have liked to have met someone learning another language so we could practice together.

It was time for the last class of the day, chemistry. I didn't know much chemistry, but I thought a prerequisite of this course had been a basic course in chemistry which I had taken. If the teacher called on me, he would expect me to at least know the fundamentals.

The teacher was demonstrating a chemical process and it seemed as if we were in a metal factory. He had an oblong container about a meter long and a quarter meter wide into which he poured molten lead. He then wrapped the entire thing in newspapers. I took off my shirt and crawled over to where he was, wanting to get involved in the experiment. He asked if anyone knew what would happen next. I thought if he set it on fire, and pushed it toward something, it would act as a torpedo and explode.

I then moved back to my place and realized I shouldn't have taken off my shirt. No one else had and I felt a little stupid.