Editing J. K. Rowling (section)

=== Secondary school and university ===
[[File:Church Cottage, Tutshill.jpg|thumb|right|[[Church Cottage, Tutshill|Church Cottage]], Tutshill, Gloucs, Rowling's childhood home]]

Rowling's secondary school was [[Wyedean School and College]], a state school she began attending at the age of eleven{{sfn|Kirk|2003|loc=p. 33. The years of British secondary school are equivalent to the United States grades of 6–12; Kirk compares them to the seven years of the books in the ''Harry Potter'' series}} and where she was bullied.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=39}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=66–67}} Rowling was inspired by her favourite teacher, Lucy Shepherd, who taught the importance of structure and precision in writing.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=56–58}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=36}} Smith writes that Rowling "craved to play heavy electric guitar",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=54}} and describes her as "intelligent yet shy".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=61}} Her teacher Dale Neuschwander was impressed by her imagination.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=55–56}} When she was a young teenager, Rowling's great-aunt gave her ''[[Hons and Rebels]]'', the autobiography of the [[civil rights]] activist [[Jessica Mitford]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=62}} Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and she read all her books.<ref name=HarryMe>{{Cite news|last=Fraser|first=Lindsay|date=9 November 2002|title=Harry and me|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/harry-and-me-2461742|access-date=7 January 2022|work=[[The Scotsman]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609191643/https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/harry-and-me-2461742 |archive-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>

Anne had a strong influence on her daughter.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Early in Rowling's life, the support of her mother and sister instilled confidence and enthusiasm for storytelling.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=12–13}} Anne was a creative and accomplished cook,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=16–17}}{{efn|Smith compares the place meals held in the Rowling household{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=17}} and the descriptions of food in ''The Little White Horse'' to the elaborate food prepared for Hogwarts pupils.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=45}} }} who helped lead her daughters' Brownie activities,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=38}} and took a job in the chemistry department at Wyedean while her daughters were there.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=53–54}} The three walked to and from school together, with a relationship more like sisters than mother and daughters.{{tone inline|reason=Again - unencylopaedic. What is this supposed to mean? |date=August 2024}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=54}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=35}} [[John Nettleship]], the head of science at Wyedean, described Anne as "absolutely brilliant, a sparkling character&nbsp;... very imaginative".<ref name=JKRStory/> Anne was diagnosed with a "virulent strain" of [[multiple sclerosis]] when she was 34{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} or 35 and Jo was 15,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=71, 74}} and had to quit her job.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=74–75}} Rowling's home life was complicated by her mother's illness{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=xii}} and a strained relationship with her father.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=4}} Rowling later said "home was a difficult place to be",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=72}} and that her teenage years were unhappy.<ref name=Parker2012/> In 2020, she wrote that her father would have preferred a son and described herself as having severe [[obsessive–compulsive disorder]] in her teens.<ref name=RowlingReasons/> She began to smoke, took an interest in [[alternative rock]],{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} and adopted [[Siouxsie Sioux]]'s back-combed hair and black eyeliner.<ref name=JKRStory/> Sean Harris, her best friend in the [[Sixth form|Upper Sixth]], owned a turquoise [[Ford Anglia#Anglia 105E (1959–1968)|Ford Anglia]] that provided an escape from her difficult home life and the means for Harris and Rowling to broaden their activities.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=76–78}}{{efn|Rowling later described Harris as her "getaway driver and foul weather friend"; his Anglia inspired a flying version that appeared in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' as a symbol of escape and rescue.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=9}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp= 77–78}} }}

Living in a small town with pressures at home, Rowling became more interested in her schoolwork.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} Steve Eddy, her first secondary school English teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English".<ref name=Parker2012/> Rowling took [[A-level]]s in English, French, and German, achieving two As and a B, and was named [[Head Girl|head girl]] at Wyedean.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=79–81}} She applied to [[Oxford University]] in 1982 but was rejected.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Biographers attribute her rejection to privilege, as she had attended a state school rather than a private one.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=80–81}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=42}}

Rowling always wanted to be a writer,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=90}} but chose to study French and the classics at the [[University of Exeter]] for practical reasons, influenced by her parents who thought job prospects would be better with evidence of [[bilingualism]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=44}} She later stated that Exeter was not initially what she expected ("to be among lots of similar people – thinking radical thoughts") but that she enjoyed herself after she met more people like her.<ref name=HarryMe/> She was an average student at Exeter, described by biographers as prioritising her social life over her studies, and lacking ambition and enthusiasm.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=44–45}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=89–90}} Rowling recalls doing little work at university, preferring to read [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]] and [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]].<ref name=Parker2012/> She earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in French from Exeter,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=95–97}} graduating in 1987 after a year of study in Paris.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=97}}