Sighs

That's the name of a teacher in Philip Carey's school in Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage, but that isn't relevant.


Here's what happened this week.


I found out on Monday that we had a Literature Essay on a grammatically incorrect poem by Tuesday. I had spent the previous night trying to come up with something but I had hardly gone past the third paragraph when I had fallen asleep, twice. It was eleven thirty at night. I promptly went to bed in the hopes of getting an extension as no one in class was really sure whether or not we had to the essay in any case. I had left school earlier on Thursday, the day before Good Friday.


Looking back, I wouldn't have time to write the essay even if I had known. I've got three math papers to to a accomplish by Friday night and a whole mountain of revision to conquer.


So on behalf of all the other girls who had left early and had not done the essay, I pleaded successfully. We had till Thursday.


Then at the end of the lesson, that Literature teacher went on and on about the responsibility of a student to hand in homework early. I suppose that's partially my fault. But in the end some of my friends did benefit from it. I finished it during free period in any case and handed it in to her before school ended.


One thing about teachers and parents and, I don't know, everyone who has expectations of you, they always think you should prioritize. The problem is, they shrink all other aspects to fit a pin head and expect us to have equal weightage towards all our subjects or some such thing. Like parents, equal weightage between studies and health, which makes me subject to a homework curfew of 12 midnight. Impossible to achieve I must say but sometimes I do stay up beyond that. My literature teacher thinks that we should prioritize according to deadlines, making sure we submit something. But she doesn't understand that most of us had projects which were graded. Such as my Art building which I need to improve on soon. The rest look rather dishevelled but at least they garner the eye's interest.


Now I think I'm subject to the displeasure of quite a number of people. That teacher. Other folks because just a moment ago we saw our ranking for that Odyssey of Mind competition... eighth out of ten in our division.


Tuesday's events also had a few more disappointments. Namely the car trip back home with my friends, M and A. Normally I try to maintain a lively conversation as much as possible but mid-way I just felt exhausted. They kept talking to themselves in the backseat. Normally, yes I understand that as a woman in the front seat its hard for others to talk to you but, they didn't refer to me or ask me questions to include me in the conversations. Cough, cough, I'm the daughter of the parent who gives the ride back.


Well just call me temperamental. But do you know those convention or orating members? They always have anecdotes. And in my church or circles, the anecdote of the nice guy who calls you up or bumps into you and starts a long talk with you keeps coming up when they talk about patience. And there you are standing with a strained voice and smile trying to wish your way out of it. Well, A did that to me.

Okay now, Thursday. Chinese tuition was scary. It seems like I'll never pass my paper. But I think I'll cope till my national exam. I wish I could take French or some other language like Latin. I went hope with A because M said A wanted me to go home with her. The thing about going home with them is that it is so awkward. They hardly talk when I'm going out with one and I'm always trying to pick up the conversation, more like peppering A with questions really.

V was slightly frizzled off. I suppose its because of the vast amounts of homework our Literature and English Teacher gave.

We found out that our math teacher is going for a major operation next Monday at 9 a.m. To remove her reproductive system because of a cyst that developed there. Please pray for her. Hoping that its still alright. She's one of the senior teachers in the school and she must be quite nervous. She trusts in God, it'll be painful but who knew that she could hide it for two years! That's how it grew so huge. She says the operation will be of no "consequence" since her reproductive system is going to shrivel up inside her in any case. Kind of gross but that is true. Our body will degenerate as we age. Till we're breathing organisms. Our exams are in two weeks but she's finished the syllabus and thinks our class can handle. She'll only see us after summer break. At least this sort of thing grounds you to life.

One more thing. I think I've got it bad with Eurasian or Caucasian boys. It's scary. Their voices especially, killers.