The Joke of Academic Priority

   One of the first statements that I heard upon entering Glenbrook North High School was that "Academics come first." I think that if you were to ask any student at my school, they would tell you that this is totally false.
   I am in my school's winter production this year. For this show, I have been called out of school twice in the past two weeks to rehearse and prepare for it. I have missed very important class days to attend these mandatory rehearsals, and my grades have suffered dearly because of it.
   Similar events occur when it comes to athletics. Athletes are constantly excused from various school events for an array of excuses. Besides that, athletes are often held to more lenient standards than the student who is not involved in sports.
  I personally do not mind missing class for drama. In fact, I really enjoy it. The problem I have lies in the school's mentality. It is a blatant  lie to pretend that academics are seeded as the school's top priority. I would just appreciate it the faculty set reasonable expectations for what the high school really cares about.

Lessons and People and Air-Guitar

   Lessons are everywhere. Corny as it may be, it's true. In my personal opinion, it is more difficult to not learn something from an experience than to benefit from it. I was recently involved in my school's production of Air Guitar High. In case you didn't know, and I would truly be surprised if you did know, Air Guitar High is a show about high school students. It follows a group of misfits who find refuge in entering an air-guitar competition. Our school was the first school to preform it since it's publishing, which was only four weeks prior.
   Initially, I found the show's script rather dull and was not thrilled with our director's choice. I didn't see anything extremely deep or insightful about the play. The play as a whole was a metaphor for the way teenagers express themselves nowadays, but besides that it was fairly straightforward. The problem though, was I was too focused on the script itself that I didn't bother to look up and see what was happening around me.
   The morals that the play was trying to convey were somehow implemented into my life. I honestly cannot explain it, but there was something about that show that was...true. For instance, one of the reocurring themes of the play was that of coming out of one's shell. Personally, I didn't think an activity as juvenile as air-guitar would enable someone to really experience some internal growth. I later realized though, that there isn't that much of a difference between air-guitar and acting. Both require one to fully commit oneself to it, and possibly face the embarrassing consequences.
   So, as I watched my co-actors rehearse, I realized how much we had all grown together. I had become so incredibly close with these other people; there was now truly a bond that united us all. I considered what the cause of the change was, and what I came up with was this: One cannot pretend to be someone else until they fully reveal who they are. Acting is a very complicated concept. Some will say acting is no different then lying, but that is far from the truth. Lying is hiding; acting is opening up.
  Now I must go back to my initial point. Lessons are everywhere. I was in a play about air-guitar and managed to learn more about myself and my friends than I had in a very long time.
  So, I guess life is kind of like air-guitar: It's not about the noise you make, it's about believing that you're holding something.