When I returned to the dorm grinning, I was treated as a hero (especially as I hadn’t even been guilty of the offence). As a timid boy who was no good at games, I had not previously experienced much admiration from my peers but that all chnaged from this point on. The following year I didn’t shirk from exploits which might end up with punishment and, although I genuinely dreaded the cane as much as most boys, I came to relish the glory of showing off the marks afterwards.