Frida obtained her primary education at Cologio Aleman, which was Mexico's German school, and in 1922 enrolled at the Escuela Nacional Prepartoria, which prepared students for university. Frida intended to study the natural sciences there, particularly biology and zoology, and her greatest hope was eventually to become a doctor.
At the Escuela, Frida became part of a group known as the "Cachuchas" after their peaked hats.The "Cachuchas" were supporters of Socialist ideologies, in particular the ideology of the then-Minister of Public Education, Jose Vasconcelos. She soon met the writer Miguel M. Lira, a lover of Chinese poetry she referred to as Chong Lee, and Alejandro Gomez Arias, a law student who became her boyfriend as well as a respected intellectual. During this time, Frida began to make portraits of her friends, but she stated later in life that, up until 1925, she had no plans for a career in art.
On September 17, 1925, Frida and Arias were on their way home from school when the bus they were riding in became involved in a terrible accident. The bus collided with a tram, and several people were killed. Frida suffered multiple injuries, and doctors doubted if she would survive. She was confined to her bed for three months; then, after seeming to recover, she began to experience pain in her spine and her right foot. For the next nine months, she was forced to wear a number of plaster corsets.
During her recovery, she not only began to put her feelings down in a diary, but she renewed her interest in painting. She used a box of oil paints and brushes her father had kept in his photographic studio. Frida's bed was also fitted with a canopy mirror fixed to its underside so she could see herself and act as her own model.
