I didn't like grade school, either (largely due to the harassment I was subjected to, and apathetic parents didn't help at all), but I pretty much handwrote whatever notes I ever took, even during college (though I was born in 1984), even though I couldn't always read what I wrote. I was fortunate to learn cursive in school. And I had studied Japanese on-and-off for over a decade freelance, but am still barely fluent in the language (though I can read hiragana, katakana, and some kanji).