"I don't think that being a strong person is about ignoring your emotions and fighting your feelings. Putting on a brave face doesn't mean you're a brave person. That's why everybody in my life knows everything that I'm going through. I can't hide anything from them. People need to realise that being open isn't the same as being weak."

- Taylor Swift

Thursday, February 03, 2011

this is the year everyone has been dreading/anticipating.

It's the big one. Year eleven.

You know how at the beginning of every year teachers say 'forget all your last years, this is the year that counts'? Well, this is the year when that is finally true.

There are the inevitable perks of being in year eleven - you get a locker which you can, with a fair amount of, um, 'encouragement', stuff your entire school bag into, and you get the last period of Monday off, whilst the poor buggers in junior school slog away at math problems you'll never have to touch again. People move out of your way, treat you with more respect. The teachers straighten up, take you seriously. You can be more bossy and picky about, well, everything. Now we have another excuse apart from PMS to be crabby - study, study, study.

But then there are the downsides - it's unbearably hot, and eight periods of non-stop reading, note taking, lecturing reduces my brain into a melted soup. There are people who don't take kindly to me in the class, for one reason or another - which is why you sit at the front, because then you can't see them. People stare at you, ask questions, doubt your choices. But it's alright. I knew what I signed up for.

I've only had two days of year eleven and I'm exhausted/exhilarated. Life hasn't gotten easier, but it seems to have more meaning now. That's what counts.

1 comment:

Adelaide Dupont said...

Exhausting and exhilirating!

Eight hours of learning and studying and notetaking. Yes, I can see how it would go into a soup.

Glad about the bigger lockers. Fitting your bag in can be a challenge, not to mention your books. (I was surprised to read in Branded that some US students stored their clothes in their lockers. Perhaps that is only true for PE and Outdoor Education).

Units 1 and 2 were optional, at least for sequential units. But, yes, they were important for middle students wanting a challenging senior experience, or those wishing to terminate their education there and not polish up for the final year.

(I do prefer "units"/"modules" rather than "years"/"grades" as they talk about subjects and do not behold one. Except when it comes to prerequesites: tertiary institutes and employers).

Going to the Arts Festival again? It's pretty soon...[24th February].