It’s been four months since school started, and students are finally getting the best gift of the season; winter break. When school first started, I felt this massive build-up of energy harvested over summer. It’s kind of like; “Omg I am going to do so well this year I am going to have straight A’s and yes I am so ready.” But towards the end of second quarter, Plan Anaconda completely derailed.
….Maybe it’s just me…
But the end of second quarter always feels like a war. Actually, the ends of all quarters feel like wars. If you’re like me, you always screw up somewhere in the middle of the quarter, leaving the end your last chance at redemption. I believe in “good studentship”; students who take copious notes and pay attention in class and study over what they learned and do home work (mandatory or not) actually at home. But more frequently I become distracted by thoughts of Santa Claus, the Great Pumpkin, slender man and Nicki Minaj.
Perhaps sometimes I just need to sit down and reevaluate the situation. Why is the end of the quarter the end of my social life? Don’t ask me, I don’t know why those teachers always give hard tests that Grrrrrrrrrrills at the end of the quarter. Then when the paper comes back with those red Xs all over the place… well I swear I’ve studied! >:( (Ok, I have a window seat. Kay? So I can’t help it).
But sometime around the end of first quarter, I realized that there was a correlation between getting good grades and paying attention in class.
I.
Am.
Focused.
Super.
Focused.
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The other drama before winter break was the exhiliarating/notorious “Secret Santa.” Or the modern style of bizarre gift-giving in commemoration of “holiday spirit”. At first, seeing people carrying pretty bags and gifts around school got me feeling pretty jealous. Cause you know, “I WANT FRIENDS TOO!”
So I started my own Secret Santa. I think it well pretty well. It was my first time organizing one, and I only subtly hinted my desires.
But, as the week went on, the talk of gift giving stopped sounding like nonsense. At first, I worried about money. I have no money, and according to one among the million rules about Asian parental relations, I dared not ask my parents to chip in. As I complained about this dilemma to my pa, he said something rather inspiring; “ The presents you give when you have little to give are worth a million fold the presents you give when you have lots to give.” don’t know when, or how it happened, but I stopped feeling jealous of the people loaded with wrapped and bow tied presents. The more I planned Secret Santa, the more I thought about what I was going give for my secret Santa, the less I thought about how much I wanted to get.
Before I knew it, I started to look forward for the long awaited gift exchange. The night before the day of gift giving, I worked till 1 A.M; there were so many people in my life that I wanted to give back to! Yes, the next day, I was drowsed in exhaustive euphoria (a consequence of sleep deprivation). I walked into school, loaded with boxes beyond the breadth of my arms, and for the brief five minutes of my gift-giving, the feeling of being rewarded went beyond description.
And to my surprise, in the hands of my friends are bags of goodies waiting for me! So I guess the moral of this story is, “give and you will receive”. So the question for you is, what will you give during the holidays? What will you do with a week’s worth of free time? As my middle school principal Dr. Joey Jones used to say; “Have a good day…or not; the choice is yours.”
Merry Christmas from the SAC and have a happy New Year!
Article by Shannon Jin, SAC Press Correspondent