6 Secondary School Break Activities Everyone Growing Up In Malta Will Remember

Pent-up energy isn’t good for anyone, but it’s especially the case with an energetic teenager locked inside a classroom. Secondary school is a time in our lives which we typically only remember fondly once its over. And the first thing we remember is the elusive and beautiful break.

As a celebration of the time we always looked forward to growing up, we’ve compiled a list of some of the things all Maltese people looked forward to doing during the secondary school break.

1. Spreading some good old gossip

If there’s one thing that always surrounds Maltese people at any age, it’s a need to talk about all the drama in our lives. And in a time where everyone is going through puberty, has incredible hormone imbalance, and is experiencing their emotions like a half-broken rollercoaster there will always some sweet gossip about.

And if you happened to be in one of those schools where you grew up with the opposite sex in the same classroom, you best believe there was going to be a lot of gossip on a daily basis.

2. Getting into a heated match of football

Like (literal) clockwork, that one student’s watch beeps five seconds before the bell for break rings, and you know it’s game time.

In a fast sprint to rival Usain Bolt, you and your friends quickly change into your sport clothes, rushing to stake your claim on the football pitch.

The worst thing about football in break was the sweat you’d be forced to put up with once the bell rings for the next lesson. You’ve made your stinky bed, now lie in it bro.

3. Doing homework

It’s break time, but instead of actually having a break, you’d decide to utilise your time to rush to the library and attempt to finish the homework you just received only a lesson ago.

These guys were on another wavelength, already showing that amount of responsibility and fine reasoning at such a young age.

Unless they were actually doing the homework they received a month and a half ago which was due in 30 minutes.

4. Being forced to spend the break in class as punishment

When a teacher notifies you that you’ll be spending the break inside instead of among your friends, you’re immediately met with a feeling of morbid loss.

As the bell rings for break, you show no emotion. Your friends walk past you almost as if you’re a ghost amongst the living. You’re in for a terrible time.

Different schools vary on the punishments they hand out their students during this horrid time, however the one thing that remains common amongst all schools is the feeling of dread and misery amongst the students left inside.

Looking back, maybe you did deserve it, but does that really change anything? Not then it didn’t

5. Spending an eternity queuing in the canteen

After half a day at school, you’re bound to get some hungry students.

The rush, queuing, and shouting lasts for only a couple of minutes into the break, but for students on a tight schedule of having as much fun as humanely possible in just over half an hour, it really did feel like an eternity.

Some of the lucky kids who got out early or had their last lesson close to the canteen would have already managed to buy their lunch, however for the rest of the school, it was a mad frenzy over the last of the pizza slices.

Only the strongest would survive… or brave the long, cold wait.

6. Playing “squash” (or any derivative)

OK, this couldn’t have just been us.

Whether or not you had different names for this game, the rules were always very similar. Much like actual squash the idea of the game was to bounce the ball against a wall, work an angle and eliminate the opponent by making it hard for them to return the ball.

However unlike squash, hands or feet were used instead of rackets. Also, instead of two or four people, these games would sometimes include entire classrooms, with students frantically shouting out the name of the person they wanted to challenge. This was either someone they didn’t like, or someone who was not quick enough (basically an easy elimination).

People actually took this shit very seriously. Reputation for the rest of the day was on the line.

What did you used to get up to during your breaks in secondary school? Let us know in the comments below!

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