Benedict Cumberbatch: Life With Ben

Chapter Two: School Life

I would arrive to school every day at 8:20, normally looking like a sweaty mess after the trek to school. I dragged myself into school and do the traditional look for an open toilet, to redo my hair and of course, use the toilets. I was not the type of girl who would hog the mirrors to improve my appearance because I knew I was not the prettiest girl so why try any harder to make an effort. This was one of the reasons why I would get to school half an hour before my lessons started, because I don't like people seeing me use the mirrors or making a fuss over myself & I don't like people hearing me wee.

I was a good apple at school. I did what I was told, and I paid attention during class and I also stayed behind until 8 most nights to revise for my exams. But the only thing was though, I would try so hard in lessons to learn everything for my exams and cram all this information in to my head, that I would get in to the sports hall, open the paper and break down in tears because I had forgotten all the information that I needed. I was capable of so many things when my brain was fresh and ripe but I always put myself down and thought negatively. But most of the teachers didn't help as they always put me down as well. Only a few knew I could achieve big things and always encouraged me, especially my maths and science teacher. I was never good at maths or science because whenever I saw a number with more than 5 digits I would just freeze. But when I was 13, my maths teacher told me, "Nothing is impossible, even the word says "I'm possible" ". This motivated me a hell of a lot! I would say this line, every day when I wake up, when I go to sleep, when I started to revise and when I stepped foot into the exam hall! So basically, I kept saying the line over and over again until I believed it and when my exams were over.

Science was very different though. My teacher got me to learn the facts by sitting next to me every lesson until I knew the facts. In science I was never confident. I always thought I was doing things wrong especially the formulas and equations because the numbers were always in standard form and I didn't like working in standard form. All the 10 to the power of something nonsense was all gobble-dee-goop to me!

I was never confident at school or with myself and my appearance because I thought, well I knew, I wasn't perfect but my perspective of life changed when I had a mystery phone call from a man who will change my life for the better...