hands up for justice

"there's a fine line between arrogance and assertiveness young lady.."
________________________________________________________________

"just slap her round the head one for her arrogance"
*laughter*
ms nicolle's astonished face
astonishment
because someone has the courage to stand up for themselves
against the teachers
because someone has the mindset to set the teachers into their own rightful places...

DISTINCTION, DIVERSITY, RESPECT
ok how many times have we all heard those three words?
MORE THAN ENOUGH
but that's besides the point
because right now
those three words actually MEAN something to me
more than the fact that they are the three core values of my school
emphasis on RESPECT

respect
is something that is not just received
you can't just expect people to respect you when you don't think they're worth the respect back
respect is something you need to earn
a good quality i see in people
is that they are able to earn people's respect
without forcing them into it, or without conning them into thinking that just becaus eyo uget paid more, you're better than them
because you're not
you're just NOT.

mr zivkovic (i think that's how to spell it)
he's paid to work at school
yes
he is, noone can deny that
it's his JOB
so he has to do it every single day
he has to wake up to a whole subschool of year 10s..
who are apparently the WORST subschool in the whole school
we're not guys
we are the BEST year 10s there have ever been
the worst subschool at the middle campus would have to be the year 9s (no offence) beacuse year 9 IS the bludge year
anyhow
he's also paid
to expect respect from everyone
he's paid to gain respect from ALL the teachers too, because he's the subschool HEAD
and all of the students
well
he's also expected to respect everyone else in return
oh wait
i said "expected to"
not everyone lives up to their expectations, do they?
least of all MR Z
seems to me that the only person he seems to respect is ms wilson
and i love her for that
she's a fav of mine
cause she LISTENS TO THE STUDENTS
you know what?
katrina said this herself
"who's the most important in the school? who are schools for? ooh no wait THAT"S RIGHT the KIDS! SCHOOLS ARE FOR THE KIDS"
well you know what?
WELCOME TO REALITY MR Z
because schools ARE about the kids' education are they not?
well why is it all based around the teachers having an easier time at their job?

so this is NOT to bag mr z
it's not some bitching session about him
oh no
this is a fight for justice
and a fight to be heard
well i gave it a shot today
TWO shots, actually
and you know what?
there's an award for end of year 10, as for end of year 12 at nmhs
it's some award for leadership and gaining the respect of the teachers
seems to me like i've lost what respect from the teachers that i've earnt over the past two years
you know why?
because they've finally come across someone who's willing to revolt
and fight for what they love and what they live for
seems to me like they've never been in this situation before
hence, they're STUCK
so all they can resort to
is taking away what that student actually LIVES for, and what they have worked HARD for

so here's the story
after school today katrina and i were to stay back to help with costumes for the musical
which we do every tuesday afternoon
after our last lesson (which was fashion and you ..home ec area) we went and packed up
so we could...well so we could work on the costumes
and as we were walking out of the subschool, as one of the last people to leave
we walked past the staff table
which is right by the subschool double doors
and sitting at the table are
Mr. Rowsell
Mr. Chiro
Mr. Pettinau (Mr. P)
Ms. Nicolle
and Mr. Z

so i stopped
oh at the time i was carrying my cube
because
well i just WAS
so i stopped to ask mr z about thursday's situation
for those of you who don't know

well in a nutshell
thursday is SRC elections/speeches and it's also a swimming carnival
and it's also the day that i was meant to give my ICARE friday speech for a fundraiser at school for my world's greatest shave thingo
and i told mr z that on monday
and he said that he would sort it ALL OUT by TUESDAY
know what?
it's tuesday today
and he did not do ANYTHING about it

so anyway
i went up to him and the first thing he says it "what do yo uwant"
in an "I"M BETTER THAN YOU" voice
and i said "you're incredibly rude today mr z"
and he said "deal with it"
and is aid "no. i shall not because this is just plain rude"
and mr chiro mockingly says "well, you definitely shall show respect"
bad move mr chiro
AND MR Z
anyway
i asked mr z
and he said
oh. about that...
and so he explains it to the teachers
and then mr rowsell saw my cube and said "could i mixit up for yo uto sovle"
and i'm like O_O wow there's a teacher...acting like most year 8s would if they saw me with a cube
so i consented
and he took it
then ms nicolle
that pretty, stylish woman
said "how about you just write something and pin it up on the board for eveyrone to read?"
and i said no right aw ay
beacuse to me
SRC is about being able to speak for yourself
because you'll be representing the entire STUDENT BODY
what's more
this year is PRESIDENT YEAR
and i'm not going to let soemoe out there
be the president
if they can't even speak in front of a crowd to represent themselves, let alone the ENTIRE student body
so i said no right away
and mr z said no too
i think that that is the only thing that w e actualy agreed on today
then mr rowsell asked me to cube for him to watch
so i did
and they weren't watching me at all
no, they were talking to me
and i don't think they understood JUST how important this is to me
it may not seem that great
oh you just go to meetings and shit
NO IT"S NOT JUST TAHT
it's about pride
it's about fighting for what's right
it's about HAVING A SAY IN LIFE
STNAD UP FOR YOURSELF
and i did just that
to everything he sa id
i stood up for mysefl
and it got to the point where
he said to me
"There's a fine line between arrogance and assertiveness, young lady"
and yo uknow what?
that's when katrina and i wa lked out
we just turned around
and stalked out of the subschool
OFF THE YEAR 10 SUBSCHOOL
away from them all
wihtout a backward glance

then we were walking towards the home ec building
katrina asserts about how she'd like to bash him up
thta's the thing, katrina gets angry too, but she never stands up to that person
she's too nice for that
whereas me?
lets' just say that if i dont' like someone
i let them know that
happened wi th mr jones
and ms angley
getting to the point where they just didnt' like me anymore...(well, ms angley deserved it...right? everyone who was in any of her music classes shall agree. ask anyone)

she stops to pee
and i'm waiting outside
all angsty
because i didn't get to say what i wanted to say
when katrina came out
i said to her
ok i'm going to go back and tell him everything i have to say
and she says
i'm coming with you
when we'd just gotten inside the double doors of the year 10 subschool she turned to me
and said
"you konw, i'm going to get a bad reputation for following you into these things"
well! let's just say my rep went bad the first time i stood up to mr z, yonks ago

so we wnet back
and mr z turns to me and says "i've got an idea. first thing tomorrow morning, the 4 of yo uwho are going to the swimming carnival are going to go to every single homegroup in year 10 and give them your speeches. happy?"
me: "8 homegroups. 8 times for every speech?"
he said: "that's the best we can do for now"
FINE THEN..will do just that
but then...
"what about my ICARE friday speech?"
z:"you'll probably not be able to do it then"
g:"but then that would be stupid beacuse then they woudnlt' know where their money is going"
z:"well, if yo uwant, i could just tell them for you? on your behalf?"
g:"yeah but then that wouldn't work as well, because i was planning to put THEm into a scenario where they'll get to KNOW what it's like to know somkeone living with cancer, and how much they ought to care and how generous they ought to be"
z:"well if yo uwrtie it all down and i coudl read it out for you?"
g:"but. no offence mr z but you woudln' tbe able to do it..as WELL as me"
ms nicolle's astonished face as she walks by
z:"excuse me young lady but i could do a damn better job than you could"
mr z looks over to the teachers for support. what do you know? HE GETS IT
g:"i didn't mean it that way. i just meant that yo uwouldn't be able to give the speech in the way that I would, in the MANNEr that i would. my speech is meant to make them FEEL what i have to say, rather than just SAYING it or just READING it out."
katrina behind me all the way says:
"yo uwoudln't be able to use the words that she would"
Mr Chiro in the background, jokingly, "You should just slap her around the head one for her arrogance"
teachers tittering with laughter
Mr. chiro. who i've always had trust in
turned against me
someone w ho i thought i was able to trust and able to talk to all the time
someone who can RELATE to me
clearly
i was wrong
clearly he has "higher paying" loyalties
than just a lowly student who talks a lot and talks very loudly and has an opinion
that did it
i don't even know what mr z said after that
all i heard was
"alright then we could do...."

i turned around and walked off
my hopes just crushed
my DREAMS of being such a big part of the school?
yeah kicked onto the ground
and stomped on
by who?
of ALL the people in the world
it was mr z
MR Z
shamed to have let him get to me so
but i just could NOT take it anymore
turned around
walked off, runing across the entire subschool
he tried to call me back
but i refused to let him talk me into anything
no way.
no way in the world.
not him.
so i screamed back
as best i could through my tears
"yo ucan do whatEVER you want. i dont care"

i am actually incredibly glad that the year 10 subschool has a second set of stairs
that we're not meant to use
im actually thankful for our school's great
random
"architecture"
ran down the year 9 stairs
cut through the courtyard towards the home ec building
on the way
i passed Ms Gallipo
nice woman
very nice woman
love her
best teacher i've had in a long time along with mr dayman and mr dama
my science of the mind teacher
my mostFAVOURITE subecjt
and i'm walking past her
with tears streaming down my face
barely able to breathe properly
and she asks me if everything was alright
i said i was fine
and kept on walking
letting nothing break my s tride
except
katrina
obviously she had come after me
and accompanied me to the home ec area
she told me that he'd come up with an idea
but i said to her
directly
"i don't care if he's come up with something GENIUS. doing things my way because he dones't deserve the respect that he expects to receive from everyone"

i agree with katrina
he is a prick
and i've tried working with him
everyone's SCARED OF HIM
WH YARE THEY SCARED OF HIM?
mr dama's like
shaking every time mr z comes near him
why mr dama?
stan dup for yourself
well now i have this story to tell
over and over again
to everyone
but you know what?
i'm not scared to tell them
that i cried
because of mr z
why?
beacuse i'm standing up for myself
i'm telling eveyrone
tomororw monring
while going around to all the homegroups
that it IS possible to stand up for yourself
and to NOT be a sheep
and follow everyone else
just because thye may seem frightening
shouldn't stop you from standing up for yourself
and that's why they shoudl vote for me
because
i can stand up for myself
im' strong
i can take on the world
and with the year 10s behind me?
well i can do anything if i believe
so
i'm ready to speak for the students
i'm ready to be their alliance to the teachers
that's my job
so bring it on.

vote#1 Gia-Yen Luong 10G1