hey my favorite would have to be 7 it's the best game ever made. I did everything on it, i got all the materia mastered and beat emerald and ruby weapon and i got 2 gold chocobos( that's the name of the yellow bird you were refering to.) and i got knights of the round mastered. iv'e also beat 8, 9, X, X-2, XII, i haven't beat 1, 2 or 3 yet there pretty hard. i'm kind of a final fantasy fanatic. lol. and i think the game you where trying to remember is final fantasy 8 cuz it's the only one i can think of that you start off in a school.