I'm not even sure where to begin. I even contemplated writing a satire, but it's better just pouring out my feelings. I'm pretty sure it's no surprise that my experience at Cathedral is largely negative, because of all sorts of things. I do have some positive things to say, though. First, here's how it changed me the past 4 years (and all the bitching that composes it):
- Affirming my atheism. Before going to the school, I didn't give the issue of religion too much of a thought but a few years of witnessing fanaticism and disgustingly narrow beliefs from the school's religious education department had the opposite effect that was intended. I'm actually glad for the experience, as I know have better knowledge of the idiotic beliefs held by the Catholic Church, as I previously thought Christian fundamentalism was reserved to evangelical Protestants. I also thought more deeply into such matters and finally concluded that the idea of an omnipotent being is ridiculous and a bad crayon drawing of what human beings cannot explain.
- Conditioning me to cope with superficiality. A number of people who go to Cathedral, such as myself, are of a higher economic background than the average American and the stereotype of apathetic spoiled brats doing nothing but gossip all day is absolutely true. I swear, I wish I could fucking punch the bitches I sat with in a number of classes who spent the whole fucking time talking about who's fucking who, who got together and broke up, and OMGZ MYSPACE (Facebook after mid-junior year). I had no escape. My "friends" weren't much better (I'll go into detail later). These people create drama just to spice up their lives, living out reality TV without the slightest inkling it's fake (oh, and the only other topic discussed was The Hills). Now that I've been exposed to this stupidity firsthand, I now know that I'm leaving American when I get older. These idiots are America's "future" (note again their improved economic standard), and worst of all, they're going to be breeders. From firsthand experience, and my parents' testimonials, their own parents are scarcely better, mostly the anal type A kind that also get involved in their child's drama. Oh, and also materialism and entitlement. No wonder there's so many stupid, fucked up people in our country aka the lowest common denominator, and it's not going to change since they're having kids. Bonus: most of the girls I mentioned are having their parents pay $12k tuition a year for them to become housewives. No wonder the feminist movement is a fucking joke (and the butt of them)! Of course, since I have to pay for it too.
- The most reliable person in my life is myself. I've been in a few severe conflicts with my parents, and either by unfortunate circumstance, or perhaps my own behavior (which will be covered shortly), I know a total of three people I can confide in. And none of them come from school. In fact, as the school year closes, this apathy is even more apparent. I try my best to be the nice, caring friend who teases sometimes, but it's pretty goddamn clear that none of these people care about anyone besides themselves, their things, and a couple of people they consider to be bffs with. Outside of the friend sphere, there's also academics. A number of teachers have no fucking clue what they're doing and they "teach to the top of the class". Example: I remember a story Ms. Kressel (who is being fired from what I hear) told us in which a new hire was forced to hire Spanish despite not knowing anything about the language. If she couldn't, she'd be fired! Bam! As for the latter, I'm not going to name any names, but they operate on the "I'll still get my paycheck even if you fail" attitude and don't seem to care whether you understand the material or not. Needless to say, I was often on my own.
- Be a real individual and enjoy yourself. If you get shunned, embrace it! I'm not a social leper, but I was far from being popular in school. And you know what? I was goddamn proud of it. Let everyone know that I love Pokemon. Let them know that I collect stuffed animals, I like spontaneity, to dance and sing to different (and better) music that they listen to, joke around, to be random and enjoy myself even when I thought I might embarrass myself. I think that this was probably one of the most valuable lessons to learn in life, and I'm fortunate to have learned it. This is of course within bounds of decency, and I didn't infringe on others' personal rights while doing it, yet certain people still thought the yak hat was embarrassing, and oshit I'M ASSOCIATED WITH YOU, IT'S THE FUCKING END. I didn't care about one bit of it, and I hope that fellow eccentric people know that as long as you don't harm someone else and the action won't affect your chances of getting a job, it's ok to do it. Don't be afraid to do what you please. Judgmental people can go fuck off and wallow in their own superficial sorrows; those people who think it's embarrassing aren't really your friends. Both of those have held true for me.
- Fight authority when it steps over the line. Ah, I have a number of choice words for Mr. Tubbs and the Teletubbies that comprise the administration. Like the government in real life, it exists solely to protect the interests of themselves, the rich (the people who contribute to the school; my mother will contribute money to the alumni society against my will) and the privileged (the honors students who either sit inside all day and study or cheat on everything and the athletic students). Even if you belong to one of these groups, you sign away nearly every conceivable right: for instance, the right to property, the right to open and free expression, and the right to go to the damn restroom (though I'm aware a number of these are common American schooling practices). They tend to overreact over the slightest thing: expulsions for honest teenage mistakes, dress code detentions, and all kinds of excused and unexcused bullshit. If something gets taken away, your parents have to waste valuable time to get it, or it simply gets taken away for good as what happened to a sweatshirt that cost $50 (which is considered theft, but because of "legal age" bullshit I can't speak for myself). The teachers are beaten into paranoia by the ever looming administration that can fire them for not noticing a student text, alternate teaching methods, and expressing an opinion contrary to their will. This is why the utterly incompetent, universally hated Mr. Jancsi keeps his job (if you haven't had him, sit in for a class), while Ms. Kressel gets fired and Ms. Z barely escapes the axe.
to be continued
