It was her first day at highschool. It was in a new town, where she had to move and where she had to lodge during the weekdays in a boarding house, since it was too far from her home to commute every day. It was a very prominent school, focusing on economics and foreighn trade, so it was considered an honour to be accepted there by her community. The recommendation for the first day dress code was to wear a uniform of the young communist (Pioneer), since it was assumed that all children were members of the youth organisation. She was not, so she dressed normally, a purple jumper and grey trousers. She arrived at school a few minutes prior to the bell (announcing the beginning of the lessons) and to her horror she discovered that there was not a spare chair in her class and all the girls were wearing a uniform! She sat at the radiator/heater at the side of the class, having a stomach ache, feeling lost, angly, scared, centre of attention, being ostracised, being out already, prior to the school starting. She remembers thinking that if she wore the uniform, she would not at least be seen so much, she would feel like she belonged there.