I can't quite put my finger on it, but the end of any holiday, Christmas, Easter break (we don't have March Break in Newfoundland), and even Sunday nights would get me down. The end of summer was, of course, the worst. I made great friends at school, and had nice teachers who liked me. I was motivated to do well because it got me praise from my parents (among other rewards -- as a good kid who did well in school, I had no curfew, and my parents tolerated a few shenanigans such as a little underage drinking, but I was warned that if I were ever nabbed by the police, I'd spend the night in the drunk tank and pay my own fine -- drinking and driving was of course, out of the question) and teachers, and during high school, I realized that academic success was my ticket out of Newfoundland -- I got a scholarship for McGill.