In which I quote Camus

A thing has happened, involving silliness of teenage boys and subsequent gross overreaction of the administration.

I won't go into it; I learned long ago that school dramas don't belong on the internet.

But it's sparked some interesting discussions.

The student body, collectively, is outraged. The punishment does not fit the crime. And the administration is taking a very defensive position on the whole debacle of decision-making.

(What they're saying, basically, is "Hey people got mad at us for the decision we almost made, and that was inconvenient for us; now shut up")

But there's something thrilling about fighting the system. Suddenly you're the protagonist in the epic of david vs. goliath. And I've felt more connected with people I'm not even that tight with, just from our mutual outrage.

To quote Albert Camus,

"In our daily trials rebellion plays the same role as does the "cogito" in the realm of thought: it is the first piece of evidence. But this evidence lures the individual from his solitude. It founds its first value on the whole human race. I rebel--therefore we exist."

And I've been thinking my school has a lot of problems. I've been writing them down actually. A list. Maybe I'll post it here one day, if I'm in a really bad mood. Most of the points could apply to any school, really. Other schools with problems.

I'm a person who likes to stir things up. I'm generally non-confrontational when it comes to personal relationships, but when I'm fighting das man I relish it.

So every time something 'outrageous' happens, I always nurture this hope that we'll all come together and fight it, so that we can "lure the individual from his solitude".

It's happened before. Freshman year. The dress code was arbitrary and silly. We agreed that some sort of dress code should exist, but didn't like the random details in the rules (i.e. you couldn't have rivets on your pants. Like, those little metal things. Because... they aren't classy?). So some seniors organized a protest. We were all to wear ugly things. Really ugly. And clashing. But in dress code.

And many did, myself included (duh), and we paraded ourselves around looking confused when people gave us weird glances. I even walked through the Intermediate School (our 7th/8th grade division) to see my old teachers, and scolded them for their "tremendously inappropriate attire" (whoa, Ms S is wearing pants with rivets! And Mr A doesn't have a belt!).

Freshman year was fun, but that might have been the best day.

And *we won.

I wear rivets.

So I want that again. And this is a good cause. Really. What has happened is absurd and inconsistent with my school's typical attitude.

I want to fix all of this.

And maybe I'm an idealist too, who thinks that if we just explain what happened, the adults will realize it's all just been a big misunderstanding.

I know I'm an idealist.

Idealist non-confrontational rebel-lover?

Can that exist?

She does, her name is Clara.

Love always,
Clara

*For islanders: Before I typed that, I thought "Students fought against rules, and the hated administration; they fought for their clothing and finally won!"