Justin walks the halls coming from a test that he knows he aced. The stench emanating from the cafeteria tells him it is Dominican for lunch--his least favorite. It reminds him of his service trip that had him eating parts of a chicken that he did not know existed.
The line for food is long, as always. And, of course, Martin--the college connoisseur who spends his time scouting the competition-- is right ahead of Justin.
“Hey Justin, how are you?”
“I’m good.”
“How did you do on the last SAT?”
Why are you asking? Just trying to size me up? Justin thinks, but instead he says,
“I did alright,” to not be rude.
“Come on, you can trust me.”
“Well Martin, how did you do on the SAT?”
“Oh, I am a bit embarrassed about my score,” Martin says, knowing he actually got a 1550. Martin scuttles off to the salad bar in despair that his spreadsheet does not have a new entry today.
“Sorry hon, we ran out,” the lunch lady says.
“Ok.” It was not ok: Justin had not eaten breakfast. He wonders what he is even doing at high school? It is not like ceramics class is teaching him to file his taxes.
Johnny, the basketball captain, walked by Justin, ranting to his friends, “That math test was total bullshit,” “I can’t believe she gave us another essay,” “All this work just appears out of nowhere.” Sure it does, Justin thought, except, of course, the syllabus, class calendar, and Google Classroom. How can Johnny remember the scores of every game he has played, the practice schedule, and all of his future games this season but not a fifteen minute assignment that could bring his grade from a D to a C.
Cindy, the head cheerleader, complains about being grounded after skipping school to day drink and tan on the beach, “It’s so unfair my parents won’t let me go to the party this weekend.” Her entourage agrees, “U-N-F-A-I-R, UNFAIR!” in unison. Maybe she should spend the several hours after school--with plenty of sun-- to go tan, Justin thinks. But, maybe, he is being too judgemental.
Who doesn’t want to escape this hell hole--a bunch of rat races for getting good grades to get into a good college to get a good career; Then you get to spend 50 years, 50 hours a week, being unappreciated and underpaid. “What's your GPA?” “How did you do on your SAT?” “Where do you want to ED to?” All this “small talk” is really just to size up your competition--people you have called your friends and peers for the last 4 years.
Justin decides he will tough it out through the next period till the day ends.
“Hello class, I hope you are all having a wonderful day! Now that we have finished all our units for the year, I need all of you to write a three-four page paper that talks about your conclusions about the importance of education based on the texts from the year.” Mr. Browning, an English teacher who is more than biased when grading, says.
Another essay, how could Mr. Browning even want to read all the essays he assigns? Justin thinks. He decides he’ll just write a regurgitation of Mr. Brownings comments during class. That is sure to get an A. It is all just a game, you are not rewarded for having unique or novel thoughts.
He spends the period writing an introduction for his paper. The thesis? A word for word copy of the response he got from Mr. Browning after asking for his conclusions about importance in education.
When math class comes around, his teacher hands their final test back. Justin gets an 89, not terrible, but he was looking for a higher grade. Martin helicopters around the classroom, asking everyone how they did: “B,” “B+,” “A,” “A-,” “B.” Then he lands at Justin's desk.
“Hey, how did you do? Pretty rough test I thought,” Martin says, trying to peer over Justin’s shoulder.
“I did alright,” Justin says. Martin gets a look at the top of Justin’s test.
“Oh, an 89? That is pretty good.”
“I guess, how did you do, Martin?”
“I did ok, I guess. I got a 97,” Martin says trying to hold back his smirk. Then he flies off to the next desk.
Martin wants everyone to show all their cards, like a game of poker. Then he decides if he wants to raise or fold. He uses deception to manipulate everyone's perception.
Class is dismissed early and Justin runs to the gas station to pick up an energy drink and some chips to hold him over during lacrosse practice.
“Coach, should I even go to college? I don’t think my grades are good enough.” Johnny says.
“Well, if you practice more, then a great school will recruit you.” The coach says.
“Are you sure? If I practiced less and studied more then I would be doing a lot better in school.” He rebuts.
Johnny isn’t dumb, he is just overwhelmed, Justin thinks. The pressure of needing to go D1 so he has a shot at going professional. He doesn’t have time to write the essays or study for the tests. If his dream is really to go play Premiere League Lacrosse, then he should spend his time doing that, not writing. He is trapped in school with commitments that are siphoning his time and energy.
On Justin’s way home, he stops by the library to keep working on his essay. While he is working, Cindy approaches him.
“I was wondering if you could look over my paper; I really need to get a good grade or people will look at me like I’m stupid.”
They work on their essays for an hour and they are both happy with where they are. Justin realizes that Johnny and Cindy are just trying their best to work their way through the system. They are really no different to him, except, he sees the box he is in. Even Martin is like him, he just wants to help his own chances at having that “Great American Dream” by collecting peoples stats like trading cards.
It is the end of year award ceremony tomorrow so Justin gets some rest.
“For the Grizzly Bear All Academic Award, Martin Smith!” the principal announces. Martin walks to the podium grinning ear to ear. Of course he won, Justin thinks, he practically lives in the halls of the school. In fact, now that Justin thinks about it, he has never seen Martin outside of school, ever.
Justin becomes frustrated with the system he exists in and decides to scrap his original essay. He is going to write what he really thinks about school: how school has become a performative rat race that simplifies people down to numbers and letters; how school has stopped valuing students as people; and how school confines students in a world of indoctrination to become the next generation of employees not thinkers.
He is worried about what Mr. Browning will think. His paper is a complete contradiction of Mr. Browning's beliefs.
Justin gets his essay back, face down.