I was "severely looked at" by the school when I insisted that amongst all the scientific and mathematical subjects I took I also studied woodwork.

The practical exam was a nightmare: only two of us passed and we both scraped through with the lowest pass grade. I ask you, make your first ever concealed dovetail in wood about 0.75cm thick under exam conditions. Practical exams were insane in those days: the chemistry exam involved heating paraffin using a Bunsen burner. Several fires in our lab, and I am sure in every school laboratory across the country...