HOMETEARS IN HIGH SCHOOLNEWS REPORTSWHYDISSCUSION BOARD
Tears In High School *played to "If I Saw You In Heaven"*
by: Chris Calloway
*recordings of pieces of interviews from just after the Columbine shooting*
Welcome to high school in the last decade of the 20th century.
Could it be, that in our zealous rush to propel our students and mankind into the 21st
century, that we have forgotten something?
Well, could be.
Maybe the answer to the future will come to us,
If we all just look back.
I remember,
I remember all too well the shortcomings and prejudices I felt in school.
I remember not fitting in,
Not having the right clothes,
The right friends,
The right temperament.
I remember thinking if I could just do that,
Or if I just drove that car,
If I just had better pecs,
If I went out with that girl,
If my friends were just a little cooler,
If my hair would do that one thing it never would do...
I remember in high school it was never my fault,
I was the smart one and the rest of the world was a big screen I could project my perceived
problems onto.
If someone thought I was strange,
Then they obviously had a problem.
Of course teachers didn't understand,
How could such a smart kid be a loser,
At least that's how it played in my mind.
Parents, forget it,
I loved 'em,
But their anachronistic view of my world was shaded only by my report card and
parent/teacher nights.
I remember, I never felt so alone in my whole life.
Then, the most miraculous, amazing thing happened,
I graduated.
The point is this:
Remember that while you are in school,
Your life is thrown and dictated to you in ways you don't understand or want,
The choices are not yours to make.
But keep the faith.
Because as surely as the sun sets in the west,
The day when your choices are solely your own is just around the corner.
And to be totally honest here,
I don't know how many times in my adult life that I have wished that someone else could
make my choices for me.
There's a whole world out there,
It will get better,
Trust me.
For students who wish harm on those around them,
Know this:
One of the greatest secrets of the high school experience is this,
That the person you would want to harm is no more comfortable with their surroundings or
being in school than you are.
Violence,
for the sake of violence is never the answer.
History is full of men and women who have made their mark by resorting to man's least
common denominator:
Hitler,
Napoleon,
Stalin.
Yet, history is made up of those who did not:
Martin Luther splintered the almighty catholic church with only 95 sentences scribbled
upon a piece of paper and posted on the front door of a church;
Mozart had written over 300 serious pieces of music at the time of his death, he didn't quite
make it to 40;
Albert Einstein, who couldn't read at the age of 7, formed the theory of relativity before he
turned 30;
John Kennedy succeeded in sending a man to the moon in less than a decade by galvanizing
the scientific community with a simple speech;
All these men were able to accomplish their goals without lifting a weapon.
You can too.
Looking back at my high school experience I can understand my frustration.
I understand yours too.
And I hope,
That when you look back at yours, you remember too.
Maybe we can make a difference,
But most importantly,
Violence is not the answer.
Paducuah,
Jonesboro,
and now
Colorado.
Nobody remembers the perpetrators,
but everyone will remember the young lives that were lost.
I know,
I do.
