What A Terrifying Nun Taught Me About Facing My Fears And Earning Respect

Sister Solange moved liked defensive lineman William “The Fridge” Perry.

If the nuns at my school in Guadeloupe had a hockey team, she would have been the “enforcer,” slamming people into the boards. Sister Solange upheld every rule and then some. If one of us messed up, our whole class would have to stand on our desks as the entire school walked by at dismissal time, mocking us.

She was terrifying.

Her special joy was policing students for dress code violations (e.g., not-too-short red tartan skirt and enclosed shoes). One time, after a weekend away, my parents planned on dropping me at school on our way back into town. 

I was wearing forbidden flip-flops in the car and panicked. I tried to convince my parents to spare my life by detouring home to pick up shoes, but no dice. 

I planned to hide my feet all day so I wouldn’t get busted.

That wasn’t a very cunning plan, so I decided to just get it over with, mostly because I was tired of being afraid. I marched up to Sister Solange and blurted out that I was wearing flip-flops and why. 

To my surprise, she said nothing and just nodded.

I felt a tidal wave of relief. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Marinating in a toxic brew of dread is far worse than just facing the consequences. When you own your “stuff” quickly, you might get an unexpected positive result, not to mention a little respect.

Photo credit: “Flip flops” by Bill Selak is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0