THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL WORK .....10, 13 Faith Neo

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL WORK (III), Faith Neo

It was the summer in between sophomore and junior year. My dad had gotten a job in New York, and we all had to move there. I was upset. But not for the reasons that you’d think. Two years before, it was the summer after eighth grade. That first week of summer, I looked at all the classes that my high school had. Then I looked at the requirements and credits I needed to graduate. I made a spreadsheet of every single class I would take over the next four years. I followed the spreadsheet through my freshman and sophomore years. And I was proud of that. It was an inconvenience when I had to move. My plans had been disrupted. I was mad, but I didn’t say so. In fact, that summer, I didn’t speak for two whole months. It was the summer in between sophomore and junior year. Something happened. My best friend, Adam, was a swimmer. While practicing for a meet, he had a seizure in the school’s pool. He was alone. His brother Andrew found him four and a half hours later. He’d been worried. It was 1:30 am, and Adam hadn’t answered his phone in hours. The funeral is a week from today. I declined the invitation. Mrs. Chung was upset. I was apologetic. I told her I had obligations. And I couldn’t get out of them. And that I was so, so sorry. But I didn’t tell her that I couldn’t go because I had an essay to write. Something happened.

Some of these things really happened. Other parts I imagined. Others I dreamed. Isn’t that crazy? But I really don’t think any of this is too far out. These things could happen—and they’re going to happen if I, like a bunch of other students, keep prioritizing my schoolwork over everything else. But I just can’t stop.