You Can Sit Beside Me When the World Comes Down

My classmates and I were treated to a presentation called Rachel’s Challenge. Based upon a young woman whose goal in life was to start a “chain reaction”, the presentation preaches for one to exude compassion , eliminate prejudice, and , in turn, start a chain reaction. This was the second time in my high school career that I have been audience to this story. The first time being my Sophomore year. My eighteen year old self took much more away from this experience than my sixteen year old self. Sophomore year, I sat in our cafeteria not fully comprehending why my classmates were reacting the way they were; the girls were crying, people were claiming to be ‘moved’. Not to say I was unaffected, although I was only seven at the time of the shootings at Columbine High School, I know the tragedy like the back of my hand. I understood the sadness of the situation, the message to put everything behind you and just get along with those around you. But at the time, it seemed like an ever occurring cliché that just wouldn’t go away. Nothing changed at school, no one acted any different. I can honestly say that wasn’t the case this year. First of all, our school, our community, has gone through trying times since my Sophomore year, we’ve new experiences to draw from. The main one being the loss of one our own. Our Senior class sat there listening to a message that we took upon ourselves about two months ago, Craig Scott just reiterated it. We sympathized with his feeling of loss, though his was on a much larger scale, we knew where he was coming from. We could relate. About two months ago, our Senior class put all of our pettiness behind us. We came together, and have done an excellent job of it in my opinion. However, Rachel’s Challenge has now given us something to ensure we maintain our new sense of unity and friendship. Something solid, tangible, to show how we’ve changed.

My English teacher is a complete and total moron who thinks he is teaching a History class. I am beyond over it.