We learned cursive in third grade and were expected to write in cursive from then on. At first my handwriting was kind of pinched and hesitant. Then in 8th grade my teacher invited a businessman to be a guest in the classroom. He had devoted himself to being a handwriting guru. He taught us how to loosen up, develop our unique style, and be our own guru. He gave is upper and lower case examples of the whole alphabet and then told us to take that and develop our own take on it. He changed my handwriting forever, and to this day, people remark about my handwriting. I cherish having the personal cursives of my relatives. My favorite of course is my dad's. He was a lefty that teachers tried to force to become a righty. In all other things he was ambidextrous, but in handwriting, he remained a lefty. I love his extreme leftward slant and his exaggerated capitals.