“Sing a Song of Hon-” Can you please repeat that?

“Sing a Song of Hon-” Can you please repeat that?

I’m sure that most students, note that I say most, are expecting to go to their graduation ceremony with their heads held high and planning on walking up on that stage and shaking the hand of the principle and receiving their diploma. We expect it to include a moment where we all throw out caps in the air and laugh about finishing in a school that took out a good portion of the students.

Yet, even after getting close to graduation, I don’t really want to go any more. Not only because some people took it upon themselves and decided to change OUR without consulting anyone outside their “clique,” but because it isn’t going to be fun any more.

Half the people I know, don’t feel like going to the ceremony because they believe that it isn’t special at all. It is indeed mainly for those “Ivy League” students, but who cares? We all knew it was going to happen. And the fact that our tickets, which should have been four, has been changed to three and at an almost last minute decision really dampers my plan on bringing my grandparents also.

And why did we change OUR alma mater to a different tune and changed a bit of the lyrics? What happened to the sincerity of at least asking your class if you wouldn’t mind changing it? What happened to the original alma mater written by Mrs. Anne McIver, the original vocal music teacher? Is it because some new guy comes in and turns the choir into a barely audible, not understandable, and a crappy dance crew says he wants to change it? Or is it because a few students believe its their right to change the alma mater that has been in our school since it was founded because they didn’t like it themselves?

And shouldn’t they have noticed that if it was truly okay with the class, wouldn’t we have appreciated it and sang along? But we didn’t we argued the fact until Ms. Short stepped in and acted like she was in charge. If I didn’t know better I thought Ms. Felton was the person who called the shots. And what is up with this bull shit about asking Mr. Slattery and Ms. Barone about changing th alma mater? Hell, none of the teachers knew they were changing it, why would our Principal and Vice Principal change the alma mater and not tell anyone?

(Said with Much Sarcasm) Of course why should I complain? It’s not like I’m important, right? Like those people who decided to change the song even though only a few people in their “clique” like it. It’s not like I’m part of this class and I have a say, nope, I’m just there to look good and fill up space like the other 100 students in the auditorium. Go right ahead, sorry for stepping on any toes. (End of Sarcasm)

Even though I’m pissed off as hell, I will still probably go to the graduation ceremony just for my friends. Not because I want to walk across that stage or get that diploma, or because it’s what all seniors look forward to. It’s solely based on the fact that I’m doing it for my friends and family.

Still, I wish we didn’t have such an attitude of independence in our class, it just ruins the little amount of cohesiveness we have so far. And in actuality, I’m going to do my part and bitch and moan about it now. I wasn’t going to, but changing the alma mater of a teacher who helped me through these four years. I’m highly disappointed in my class.

Ms. McIver taught me to love music for what it is, to annunciate words, to put the music first before anything. She didn’t teach me to make the music pretty with dance moves or anything, she taught me to listen to the music, not dance to it all the time.

I don’t care what the majority of people think, only the certain few who could hold a candle up to my face and speak and argue their points cohesively with properly annunciated words.

- Jed

Just my two cents on the situation, since what I say doesn’t matter.

Chances.

From the thoughts of Romer Jed:

I looked out of my car window with my head pressed against the glass, I could feel the cold seeping in slowly through as I stared out at the bleak landscape of 440. We are stopped at the usual U-turn and I could see a homeless man holding a cup and asking for money. My first thought was not about money or the criticism of the man, but the reply of others. I had a chance to give this man a dollar, to give him a chance to get a warm cup of coffee, and maybe a chance to get back on his feet. I had but a moment to make a choice that could have decided his immediate future, yet I didn’t do anything. I just drove away.

We grow up to be wiser, or at least that is what we believe. We automatically assume that a homeless man is a drug addict, we automatically infer that other parents don’t know how to raise their kids when they don’t agree with our ideals, and we automatically agree with ourselves that a situation may be hopeless when we didn’t even try to begin with. We learn to grasp our limits, as well as others, in a split-second. We condition ourselves not to give this situation a second chance to reprimand itself and prove to us that this time it may be different.

As teenagers, we are in the middle of the conflict of losing our childhood purity to the “truth” that the world seems to display. We are losing that previous innocence of asking a person’s name before judging him or her. We are losing the ability to smile at a stranger for no apparent reason, but for the sake of being nice. And the sad truth is, most of the time, people lose themselves to the general rush of the crowd as it pushes toward adult-hood.

The chance for us to retain a sense of self, the chance for us to continue holding that outstretched arm out of goodness, and the chance for us to hold on to that less judgmental  form of knowing a person before we ask that person’s name is slipping away. This rant comes as a reminder that we must either hold on or let go, because their is certainly no middle ground. And once you let go, the slope is quite slippery and coming back up might just end with you falling even faster than before.

Chance. Just by chance, you happen to retain that innocence towards the world, please don’t ever let it hold you down. The world is cruel, but kindness is stronger.

- Romer Jed.
P.S. Where are the other posters?

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Before I begin, I wish to say good day to you all. If you might not know me, I am Romer Jed. Now that we have introductions out of the way, let us begin…

On Thanksgiving, family is usually depicted as sitting around the table, eating turkey, and laughing about memories shared from previous visits. Yet, does that really happen in our lives? Do we really sit around a table with family and friends pretending that what they are saying is truly important to us? I can’t honestly say I do, nor do I expect anyone else to care. I visit distant relatives once a year during Thanksgiving in New York. I love the food, I love the atmosphere, but I don’t know who those people are. I don’t know what they believe in, how they react to certain things, or what they do for a living.

Yet that is not the main concern of mine, my main concern is in the word, Thanksgiving. We do ourselves an injustice by saying Thank You to everyone, usually, only during this time of the year. And it may seem nice, but why don’t we do it too often? It’s not like I love you that loses it’s luster over time nor is it like I hate you that it gets stronger the more you say it and wish it. Thank you is something simple and unique. It lets someone know that they are acknowledged for their good tidings and their actions.

In this case, shouldn’t we say thank you all the time then? Not just during Thanksgiving or any other major holiday. And the sad truth would be, I’m also guilty of this. I fail to say thank you to my friends who are their for me or to my family who has always taken care of me. Without them, I wouldn’t be, essentially, me. So I would like to give you guys an incentive to thank your family and your friends not only during this time of the year, but whenever you remember them.

The last and foremost message I’ll leave to you guys is something I texted to myself to say at TORCH.

“I was about to come in here with a page long essay about giving thanks and being grateful. However, I don’t need to, all I need is a text long message. I was about to walk in with a paragraph of cliches, but I didn’t. All I care about now is my friends, my family, my future, and my memories. And I’m thankful for everything. All I need to tell you, is to be thankful and happy. Because I’m thankful all you guys exist and are here spending time with me now.“

Well hope you guys enjoy reading. (Smile) (Wink Wink)

- Romer Jed