I think that my class has students who are mostly problematic. Either because of being in 5S3 do we have all sorts of troubles, or we have all sorts of troubles and thus belong in 5S3, I can’t be sure. I can only be certain of the fact that many of us face different kinds of bullsh*t in life – family issues, personal problems, relationship difficulties and so on.
5S3 isn’t the best of classes. We may be in the pure sciences stream, but we are the last class there. None of us are particularly excellent at studies, whether due to lack of interest, laziness or just plain averageness. The few things the students here excel at are sports, co-curricular activities and bugging the hell out of teachers.
Nobody thinks we’re worth very much – they don’t expect us to be somebody brilliant in life. Teachers come in and look at us weird. We don’t get many chances to do stuff or be involved in things; people have the mindset that if you’re not from the first or second class, you’re hopeless and undependable. And maybe it is because of these instances that we are who we make ourselves out to be today. Maybe it is because of the constant segregation and being looked-down-upon, that we have molded ourselves to the expectations of society for people of our ranks. Maybe we’re irritating, annoying, noisy, loud, rude and lazy, because everyone expects us to be like that. Just because we’re in the third class.
But so what if we’re stupid? So what if we’re not destined to get full A’s in our exams? So what if we’re a different type of people from those overachievers who’re st the top? Because we have something so much more valuable than mere exam-oriented-education. We have something better than a pretty school-leaving certificate. We have the true values, unbeatable edge and the head-above-everyone social skills of those who have ever had true friends.
There’s hardly a competitive spirit in my class, or the constant I-must-be-better-than-everyone-else feeling. We’re mostly acceptable of who we are and what we can do. We are confident in our abilities and loyal in our friendships. We laugh long and live life, not caring about anything but the present. The devil-may-care attitude might be frowned-upon by many, but at least the atmosphere in the class is always that of a relaxed environment instead of one which keeps pressing down on its students.
People may say that unless we work harder, we’re never gonna get anywhere in life. But each and every one of us have dreams and visions for ourselves, as well as our own identities. We support each other through thick and thin, and are not just robots who study all day for good exam results. We may not have the academic intelligence to match the top kids, but our intelligence is that of a different kind – one that will enable us to get through life. And that is way more important.
