Last Day of Public School

Today was my last day of public school for the rest of my life. I'm not very sad, but I'm not bouncing off the walls either. I feel like I should be feeling something, but I don't feel much of anything. A friend of mine explained it as mixed emotions. Maybe it is, though honestly I don't feel confused about anything except why I don't feel much.

Anyway, my true reason for blogging today is a response to something that occured today. The seniors go wild with confetti and airhorns even before school gets out for us (after third period at 11:11). During the period there would be seniors out in the halls chatting and signing yearbooks; their occasional whoops would be augmented by music blasting out of various classrooms.

My last period of the day was AP English with Mr. Berrier. It was one of the few classes in which I had a "final," which for us was grading portfolios in monasterial silence for the entire period. Near the end of class (when more seniors had gathered in the halls making noise), Mr. Wu, the Junior AP U.S. History teacher, came by our classroom and spake thus (loosely):

"The difference between you and the people in the hall is that as time goes on, you're the ones who will be in charge of your own destiny. They won't. You take your final seriously, and listen when your teacher tells you to be quiet and that it's important to your grade."

This may be some kind of strange compliment, but I'm not sure if I agree with everything he said. I don't believe that expressing excitement about graduating in the halls during the last period of school is a bad thing. There were parties going on up and down that hall (there's a lot of senior classes there 3rd period), and a couple of teachers let their kids visit other party rooms. Most of the kids out in the hall were done with their finals. The fact that they chose to celebrate in that form in that place has nothing to do with their ability to succeed. I believe that a person can make something successful out of his or her life despite showing a bit of enthusiasm on the last day of school.

Many teachers get angry at the students because it distracts their students when they are serious enough to give a final on Senior final day. Senior finals aren't usually very important for most students; your grade is based primarily on your work throughout the year. Even if they are important to you, blaming the F on your history exam on the "distracting noise" going on outside is no reason for that noise to be condemned. If you can't work with distracting noises, whether they be actual sounds or events, you probably won't get far in life. Even the quiet student inside the classroom can fail.