In a perfect world, a driven student who wants challenging and rigorous course work and a high GPA could achieve just that, with the faculty and administration behind them every step of the way. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. And my future may suffer because of it.
My high school is ranked one of the best in southern Arkansas. Now, don't let that fool you: southern Arkansas is practically a wasteland of intolerance and incompetence. If we're one of the best, it is because all other schools are below basic where we are basic - it is because the majority of our teachers only teach the bare minimum we need to pass the final exams, and they only care about their own successes rather than those of their students.
Sadly, while I strive to take the most advanced classes and do the hardest work, my peers throw their education away, only doing what is necessary to pass and never caring to go anywhere in life. The general consensus is that Woodlawn is where they were born and raised, so the world outside of Woodlawn doesn't matter.
So when I told my counselor with pride that I wanted to take all 5 AP classes offered at Woodlawn and then another two online, I was absolutely disheartened when she seemed hesitant to cheer at my hunger for knowledge. Instead, she told me that it would be stressful and that the principal would have to sign off on it. She told me that the state department may not allow credit after a full schedule. These things were not terrible things to say - she was right to give me some advice and to play the Devil's Advocate. She was right to remind me of the "senioritis" and jokingly asked if I had penciled in any fun for my senior year.
I do not think this battle is between me and my counselor. I am more than confident this battle is reserved for my principal.
Not five minutes after I had left her office, feeling quite anxious about how everything would work out, I was called back to talk to the principal. (Mind you, this was not enough time for them to check with the state department.)
I knew what was going to happen, to some extent. I knew how this principal worked, and I knew how he felt about me. He had just recently shot down a serious proposal to start a Gay-Straight Alliance. He had called me into his office several times about my outfits, when they are obviously not nearly as bad as other outfits girls wear at this school, including the school-administered cheerleading uniforms.
However, I tried to maintain a hopeful attitude and give him the benefit of the doubt. That was a bad decision. I had only just sat down when he told me without an ounce of compassion that he would NOT sign off on my proposal of two online AP classes because Woodlawn already had a fine selection. He said he would NOT stay after school an extra 45 minutes so that I could do my work, and my question of "why" was met with an offended and vague answer about how he picked all the AP classes that Woodlawn offers.
He then went on to explain that I may not be able to take all the AP classes offered at the school because their time slots may overlap.
So even though there is absolutely no harm in my taking these classes, he refuses to sign off on it because it MAY cause him a slight inconvenience.
Well, dear principal, your sub-par school inconveniences ME. I am ill-prepared for college and because of you, I am consistently put at a disadvantage in my school setting. Do NOT pretend like this isn't a personal grudge - you have found ways to handicap me since I started high school and I don't appreciate this. But not this time. You can't get away with denying me an education when you're required to say yes, and I will most certainly be calling you in a few weeks to finalize my schedule with 7 AP classes on it.
Thank you, I guess.
-Erica Kriner
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