whispered the letters to himself again and again until they sounded familiar.
"Even if I can't go to school," he thought, "I'll keep learning."
Soon, Julius was returning to the wall every day. He memorized the words, sounding them out and connecting them to those he had learned. He copied them on scraps of papyrus, writing and rewriting them until they seemed to belong to him.
One morning, he lingered outside the schoolhouse as the other children filed insidewhen Magister Felix happened to notice him.
"Julius," he called out to the boy, stepping outside. "Why haven't you been at school?"
Julius's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and muttered, "We can't afford it anymore." The words barely came out in a whisper.
Magister Felix fixed his eyes on him for a while, then nodded. "I see," he said. "But tell me, Julius–do you still want to learn?"
"Yes, of course!" Julius exclaimed.
The teacher smiled. "Then perhaps we can make an arrangement. If you are willing to
work by helping me clean the classroom, organizing the scrolls, and running some small errands, then I'll make sure that you can still attend my lessons."
At this, Julius's heart soared. "I'll do anything, Magister. Thank you!"
From that day on, Julius was at the schoolhouse early every morning, sweeping the floors, getting the ink and styluses ready, and preparing the scrolls. When the other students arrived, he took his place in the back of the room, anxious to hear every word his teacher said.
But Julius didn't stop there: at home, he practiced writing in the dirt outside their house, copying the words on the wall. He would read out loud for his mother at the market, guiding her
through the various notices and prices she could not read. When his father could not figure out how many seeds they needed to plant for their crops, Julius stepped in with his math skills.
One day, while arranging a pile of scrolls, Julius noticed a story he had never read. Suddenly captivated, Julius started studying the scroll.
As Julius read the words, he realized something. All that he was learning—every letter, every number, every story—wasn't just for himself, he thought; it was a way to shape his world, to understand it, and to make it better.
Years later, Julius grew into a young man who became a scribe. He sat in his office every day, ready to give back to the community he had grown up in. Julius would help anybody in need of assistance, remembering how Magister Felix would so kindly teach him whenever he had problems.
One day, on the city's outskirts, a man was walking on the street. He kicked a rock, which rolled and hit a wall. The man looked up and saw that someone had written in bold, sweeping strokes the words: non scholae, sed vitae discimus.—We learn not for school, but for life.
Works Cited
McCormack, Laura Kate C. “Roman Education.” World History Encyclopedia, 24 Apr. 2023,www.worldhistory.org/article/2224 /roman-education/. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
“ODYSSEY/Rome/Writing.” Emory.edu, carlos.emory.edu/htdocs/ODYSSEY/ROME/writ.html. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
Schmitz, Leonhard. “LacusCurtius — Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.” Penelope.uchicago.edu, University of Chicago, 2020, penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman /Texts/secondary/SMIGRA. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
University of Richmond Magazine. “Writing on the Wall.” University of Richmond Magazine, 3 May 2019, magazine.richmond.edu/article/-/16259/writing-on-the-wall.html. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
All that he was learning—every letter, every number, every story—wasn't just for himself, he thought; it was a way to shape his world, to understand it, and to make it better.
CREATIVE WRITING · Summer 2025 · Torch: U.S.
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Winning 6th grade submission, 2024-2025 NJCL Creative Writing Contest
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