by Avi (’15)

As the school dwindles to the last weeks, I can sense a feeling of despair in the eyes of my classmates. It’s funny how when the end is so close, it seems so far away. With this despair can come the lack of enthusiasm, or the feeling that “class doesn’t matter anymore, I only have two more actual weeks anyways.” This is not true. These last few weeks are what can bring that B to either an A, or a C.  These weeks are the time to put in the most effort.

Right now, I am right alongside my classmates. In some subjects, I straight up don’t care anymore. I tell myself, “When am I going to need to know what kind of bonding occurs between hydrogen and fluorine?  Probably never.” I tell myself, “Why do I care about (excuse my language, but it’s the correct term) bullshitting my way to a higher grade with more WebQuests and cookies.”  These mantras  do not help my enthusiasm for school.

What I need to tell myself is that I should try hard because I want to finish strong. In the words of Molly Bond, “[You should]… do… well…[in school because] Flannery O’Connor… [and grades].”  Besides Flannery O’Connor wanting me to do well, I’ll admit I’m doing most of my work now just to get good grades. This is a bad work ethic. It turns noble assignments into busy work.

Grades are no longer a result of doing good work, but the only incentive that keeps me from not doing it at all. I tell myself to look ahead into the foggy summer that San Francisco has to offer. However, this is hard to do but in the words of Kacey Musgraves, “If you’re gonna find a silver linin’/ It’s gotta be a cloudy day.”

My silver lining for the rest of school is Creative Writing. Creative Writing is what keeps me from completely giving up on school. So, you might see me with dull eyes, drooling over papers in all my other classes, but for the rest of the year in Creative Writing I’m going to try my best at showing enthusiasm. Besides, we are one very lucky group of kids to get to spend time with high quality artists-in-residence, and eating great food (Maia, I loved your tempeh!)

So, the moral of this post is, in the words of Andy Grammer, “[to] keep your head up, oh, and you can let your hair down, eh..”  Let’s finish this school year strong!  The finish line is just over the mountain!